Jacob Sullum points out that the NRA is playing a dangerous game on this bumpstock business:
The NRA opposes a legislative ban on bump stocks but wants the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to reconsider the question of whether they are legal. The administrative approach favored by the NRA invites unelected bureaucrats to rewrite a statute for political purposes, undermining the rule of law and the separation of powers.
*snip*
The NRA has tried to divert that response by urging the ATF to “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.” On Face the Nation last week, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre noted that “it’s illegal to convert a semiautomatic to a fully automatic,” adding, “We think ATF ought to do its job, look at this, and draw a bright line.”
As a wookie-suiter myself, I agree with his point. However, I think NRA’s motivation is more political. And brilliant. They throw the blame at the Obama administration. Take the popular view on bumpstocks. And get in a jab at ATF. And it panders to the Trump base.
The conspiratorial side of me can’t rule out they took this position because they don’t want to put it to a congressional that vote they’d later have to grade.