October 13, 2017
For Immediate Release

GOA to Paul Ryan: A Ban on Bump Stocks is a Ban on Magazines, Other Features 

Springfield, VA – Gun Owners of America (GOA) is urging House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and congressional representatives to oppose any legislation or regulation that restricts or bans the possession or use of bump stocks. 

GOA has sent a letter to the House and Senate urging them oppose any restriction on bump stocks, in addition to activating gun rights supporters to call on Congress to stand firm for the Second Amendment.  

Nonetheless, Speaker Ryan has called on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to further regulate bump stocks, a measure which GOA is opposed to. 

Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, expressed two major problems with the call for the ATF to regulate bump stocks. 

“First, there is no way that Congress — or the Trump administration — will be able to ban or regulate bump stocks without also opening the door to prohibitions on other parts, accessories and magazines,” Pratt said. “This is because all of the legislative proposals currently on the table would ban ANY item or device that helps ‘accelerate the rate of fire’ of a semi-automatic firearm.”

“Second, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the federal government from imposing ANY infringements upon our gun rights,” Pratt continued. “If the Trump administration starts supporting infringements — even if they are so-called minor ones — it will weaken their ability and resolve to oppose the next set of infringements that come down the pike.”

Pratt also emphasized that gun owners must be active in this defining time for the Second Amendment.

“We are in a political war to preserve our gun rights,” Pratt said.

Pratt concluded that if Speaker Ryan and other Republicans continue to cave, many gun owners will remember their compromises in the next election. 

“Second Amendment supporters need to let Ryan know that millions of gun owners oppose his compromises,” Pratt stated. “Ryan must understand that there will be serious ramifications at the polls if he and other Republicans do not stand up for our Second Amendment rights.”

Erich Pratt, or another GOA spokesperson, is available for interviews. Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over 1.5 million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Newsroom.

— GOA —