Are Bump Stock Bans Useful?

Jeffrey Miron

Bump stocks are devices that enable semi‐​automatic weapons to fire faster—although still slower than—fully automatic weapons. Bump stocks became the target of legal and public scrutiny after a gunman used them in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, after which then‐​President Donald Trump called for a ban. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) responded by reclassifying bump stocks as machine guns, effectively banning them.

The Supreme Court recently reversed the ban...