The U.S. Department of Justice amended the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to clarify that bump-stock-type devices—meaning bump-fire stocks, slide-fire devices, and devices with certain similar characteristics—are machine-guns as defined by the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968 because such devices allow a shooter of a semiautomatic firearm to initiate a continuous firing cycle with a single pull of the trigger.

Specifically, these devices convert an otherwise semiautomatic firearm into a machine-gun by functioning as a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that harnesses the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm in a manner that allows the trigger to reset and continue firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter. Thus, a semiautomatic firearm to which a bump-stock-type device is attached is able to produce automatic fire with a single pull of the trigger.

With limited exceptions, the Gun Control Act makes it unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machine-gun unless it was lawfully possessed prior to the effective date of the statute. The bump-stock-type devices covered by the Rule (published in the Federal Register at 83 FR 66514) were not in existence prior to the effective date of the statute and are prohibited upon the effective date of the Rule (March 26, 2019).

Under the Rule, current possessors of bump-stock-type devices are required to destroy the devices or abandon them at an ATF office prior to the effective date of the Rule.

In West Virginia, as in all states, the regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding bump-stock-type devices are applicable. These devices, which include bump-fire stocks, slide-fire devices, and others with similar characteristics, are classified as machine guns under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968. This classification is due to their ability to enable a semiautomatic firearm to fire continuously with a single trigger pull. As a result, the possession, transfer, or manufacture of such devices is prohibited unless they were lawfully owned before the Gun Control Act's effective date. Since bump-stock-type devices were not available before this date, they are banned under the new rule, which took effect on March 26, 2019. Owners of these devices were required to destroy them or surrender them to an ATF office before the rule became effective.