rob-cubed
In need of moderation
I respect the intent of what you said, and probably the general public and a number of 2A proponents would agree with you. But the ATF disagrees, as does the letter of the law, and these things matter:
Bump fires DO NOT violate this definition, at least not in its mechanical sense. If Congress decides that the spirit of the NFA has been violated, then they need to pass a new law clarifying that the use of any device--or even holding the gun in such a fashion--where recoil can be used to speed up the rate of fire in a semi-auto gun is illegal.
This is a dangerous line to cross. I've watched shooters (far better than me) who can put multiple rounds accurately and quickly on target without bump firing. See where this is going? How fast is illegally fast? Double-taps are now illegal, even in self-defense, unless you have a minimum of X number of seconds in between them.
If all Congress did was ban bump stocks--to avoid this slippery slope of rate of fire being the important measurement of a machine gun--then bump stocks aren't the only way to speed it up. There are other ways.
In either scenario the law fails at securing public safety. Criminals don't care--it was already illegal to shoot into a crowd of people and he could've been more lethal with aimed fire. It just further erodes the rights of those of us who own and shoot legally.
