The gun attachments known as bump stocks are now banned. The federal ban went into effect March 26t. KFSK’s Angela Denning takes a look at bump stocks and what their ban means for Petersburg residents.
Petersburg’s police department doesn’t use bump stocks but there’s one in the police chief’s office anyway. Someone turned one in because of the ban.
Police Chief, James Kerr, shows me how bump stocks would work on his department’s AR 15 rifles, which are semi-automatic. Bump stocks replace the stock of a gun, allowing shooters to fire continuously. It basically makes a semi-automatic weapon shoot like an automatic one.
“What it does is it replaces the buttstock and it allows you to use the recoil of the rifle along with the way the bump stock is designed to keep firing multiple rounds as close to an automatic weapon as you can get,” Kerr said.
This is the sound of a regular semi-automatic AR 15. (It’s not the police chief firing but you get the idea):
And here’s the same rifle with a bump stock:
Bump stocks are not really used for hunting purposes but some people in the past have used them at the shooting range for fun. Since March 26, they are illegal and can lead to fines and prison time. But Kerr says the local department is accepting them without penalty.
Here’s Kerr’s interview on bump stocks.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms gives tips on how to destroy bump stocks.
