An effective AWB by Exec Order?
I posted this idea in another thread, but thought it might be interesting to discuss here.
Trump may have opened a door for restrictions not previously opened before by any other President.
After the Las Vegas massacre, Trump banned bump stocks by exec order. A bump stock is essentially just a non-federally regulated part of a rifle that functions differently than other stocks. I think the strength of this manner of prohibition is that there are still other stock options that make the AR or other rifles useable (collapsible, folder, or fixed stocks).
There are a lot of non-federally regulated parts on AR-type rifles. For example, magazines, collapsible/folding stocks, and pistol grips are nonregulated parts.
If what Trump did by banning bump stocks was legal (and perhaps it wasn't which is why he did it knowing it would be overturned), then Biden could cite him as an example of how to handle AR-type rifles.
He could, in effect, recreate an AWB by exec order. I think the issue will be that he can't make the rifles unuseable. For example, perhaps he could ban collapsible stocks, but not fixed stocks. He could ban 11+ round magazines, but not 10 rounds mags. He could ban pistols grips, but not grips that connect to the stock (e.g., monster grips).
I don't think this will significantly reduce gun violence or even mass shootings, but it would achieve AWB-compliant ARs similar to the ones available during the 1994 AWB which Biden credits as having an effect.
Just a thought.
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