SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man may end up being the only person in the country who can legally own a bump stock.
Gun rights advocate and chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council Clark Aposhian has been attempting to block a new federal rule, which outlaws bump stocks in the U.S. starting next Tuesday.
A bump stock is an accessory or attachment that modifies semi-automatic weapons to fire like a machine gun.
“It’s very simple. It’s really not about bump stocks. It’s about government overreach,” Aposhian told Utah’s Morning News.
“The ATF has told gun owners since 2010 that these are perfectly legal devices that they’re not a firearm, then the President and the Administration have said, ‘No, we want them to be made illegal,’ and the ATF just went and did that,” he continued saying that when laws and definitions are changed that should be happening in the Legislative Branch and not the Executive.
“That’s not the way the Constitution is written,” he said, “and this is a clear example of overreach.”
Aposhian had recently been denied by a district judge. But he appealed and was given a stay while his lawsuit plays out and during the stay Aposian will be the only person who will legally be able to own a bump stock in the United States.
Under the new federal ban, everyone else must either destroy or surrender their bump stocks. Aposhian says the rule violates the constitution.
He went on to tell Utah’s Morning News that he doesn’t think that every law restricting firearms is an overreach by the government so long as they follow the laws and codes that are in place and in this instance he says that hasn’t happened.
You can hear the full interview below.