There was an attempt

You CAN federally own a grenade launcher where states don’t prohibit it. Scary thought for most people. Although- you need a special permit and to pay a large tax stamp, and the launchers tend to be about $2,000 with each grenade costing around $500 and EACH round requiring paperwork and checks as well as $200 tax EACH. Putting them largely out of the realm of practicality for the average criminal or lay person even when other factors aren’t considered. Now personally- I find the idea a tad excessive- but at the same time- find crime stats for mass shootings or armed crime where riffle mounted grenades were used on US soil.

There is a bit of a disconnect and largely it illustrates one of the major issues with discussions on guns- people making decisions and laws largely have little or no knowledge and often misleading or poor information. Bump stocks PROBABLY should be illegal- or at least regulated- but we need to define WHY.

Federal law does not restrict the rate of fire of a weapon. The laws on automatic weapons state CLEARLY that an automatic weapon is a weapon which can fire more than one round per depression of the trigger. A “bump stock” requires the trigger be activated each time the weapon is fired- it simply does so in a way which allows one to pull the trigger very quickly. But here’s my point on how the WHY is important- there are devices like trigger cranks that aren’t covered in the bump stock ban. These devices attach to the trigger of a weapon and allow you to turn a crank which rapidly pulls the trigger of the weapons- effectively allowing you to fire “automatic” fire.

And so long as ambiguity exists in the law, which is often the result of poorly crafted and hastily implemented reactionary laws- engineers and home hobbyists are free to find creative ways around laws that don’t take the time to understand what it is they are trying to do.