A Texas firearms retailer handed over 60,000 bump stocks to the Federal Government to be destroyed in accordance with the Trump administration’s recent bump stock ban.
They are now joining a second bump stock retailer in a lawsuit against the Federal Government seeking compensation for their suddenly illegal and now destroyed product.
RW Arms of Fort Worth, Texas, turned over their company’s bump stocks to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to be shredded and recycled, according to Houston Chronicle. ATF agents were present on site, on Tuesday, where tens of thousands of RW Arms’ bump stocks were destroyed. The bump stock ban officially took effect on Tuesday. (RELATED: Lawsuit Against Government For Not Compensating Owners Of Banned Bump Stocks May Stand A Chance)
“As of March 26, all bump stocks are officially banned. Any remaining bump stocks must be destroyed and are illegal. Our remaining inventory is being crushed, but we’re not all down about it. We still have several top-name brand products available,” RW Arms said on Facebook.
RW Arms is now joining the firearms retailer The Modern Sportsman in suing the government for compensation for their now illegal product, according to lawyer Adam Riley at the Flint Law Firm who is working on their lawsuit.
“It is very unfortunate that the government believes that it can take and destroy tens of millions of dollars of private property, that was not previously regulated, and not pay compensation under our Constitution,” Riley told the Daily Caller. (RELATED: Opinion: Trump Administration’s Bump Stock Ban Would Be Illegal And Unacceptable)
Their case contests the government’s reclassification of bump stocks as a type of “machine gun,” which were banned in the National Firearms Act of 1986. The retailers insist that a bump stock is a separate firearm accessory and therefore requires compensation from the government upon confiscation of the item.
In December 2018, the Justice Department issued a rule making bump stocks illegal through this reclassification, without any intention to compensate bump stock owners or retailers as is mandated under the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause.