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The Trump Administration says it will soon place a federal ban on bump stocks, the gun attachments that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire faster. Ten states banned the plastic device after it was used by a gunman in Las Vegas .

Without any enhancement, semi-automatic rifles fire one bullet per trigger pull. Bump stocks harness the gun鈥檚 recoil to speed up the rate of fire, allowing the gun to pump out bullets faster.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), bump stocks Since 2010, the DOJ says, have been purchased in the U.S.

Whether the bans help to decrease gun violence has yet to be seen. But given that they鈥檙e now in place in more than one-fifth of the country, bump stock bans represent a new wave of gun safety regulation.

While bump stocks have been illegal in California since 1990, Massachusetts became the after the Las Vegas shooting. New Jersey, Washington, Florida, Vermont, Maryland, Hawaii, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island all followed. In New Mexico and Wyoming proposed bans failed.

Connecticut鈥檚 bump stock ban, Public Act 18-29, went into effect Oct. 1, 2018.

When the law was introduced in March 2018, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL), a guns rights group, opposed the legislation and showed up to public hearings that month addressing PA 18-29 and other gun-related bills with written and verbal statements.

Jeremy Stein, president of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, helped write the law along with Democratic and Republican members of the legislature. His first day on the job was the morning after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.

As a registered lobbyist in Connecticut, Stein says part of his job includes educating not just the public but legislators as well, many of whom didn鈥檛 know about the plastic accessory until after the Las Vegas shooting.

鈥淲e legislate things all the time as a society to say this is wrong,鈥� Stein said. 鈥淭his is not acceptable, and I think in this case, this is one of those areas where we were saying there was no legitimate purpose for a bump stock.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not used for hunting. It鈥檚 not used for target practice. It鈥檚 not used for self-defense. It鈥檚 not used for home defense. We don鈥檛 need them on the other side. It was responsible for killing 58 people 鈥� let鈥檚 not have these.鈥�

Stein recognizes that other states may not have prioritized passing their own bans because they have 鈥渂igger fish to fry,鈥� like permit-to-purchase and background check laws that already exist in Connecticut.

鈥淲hile the bump stock [ban] itself may not solve all of the gun violence problems,I think it is symbolic of a way that Democrats and Republicans alike can work together to pass legislation,鈥� Stein said, 鈥渁nd that gun owners and non-gun owners and people that are in the middle can work together to pass safety laws.鈥�

The National Rifle Association has said on a federal ban until the details of the law are released.

Connecticut鈥檚 law classifies bump stocks, along with similar devices like binary triggers and trigger cranks, as 鈥渞ate of fire enhancements鈥� because of their ability to cause more than one round to fire per trigger pull.

According to Public Act 18-29, anyone caught possessing, using, selling, manufacturing or purchasing one of these accessories could be charged with a felony or misdemeanor.

Rob Pizzi sits in the training room of his gun shop, Central Connecticut Arms. He鈥檚 never sold bump stocks.

Ryan Lindsay / Connecticut Public Radio

Now that bump stocks are illegal in Connecticut, owners are expected to turn them in to the police or to licensed gun shops, also known as Federal Firearm Licensees (FFLs).

But state officials in Connecticut don鈥檛 know how many bump stocks are in the state,nor do they have a central database that tracks how many have been surrendered or confiscated.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a list or a certification or registration of understanding who has them,鈥� said Sergeant Alex Giannone, firearms supervisor with the Connecticut State Police. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 only upon us finding out that somebody has it that we could take the necessary and appropriate action.鈥�

As the owner of a Federal Firearm License, Rob Pizzi received a notice from the state regarding PA 18-29, which is standard procedure when the state passes any new legislative changes or updates that could affect his business, Central Connecticut Arms.

There have been has issued a memo to law enforcement agencies and FFLs regarding a federal ban. Pizzi says he hasn鈥檛 received anything yet.

In the two months since the ban went into effect, the Connecticut State Police say only one bump stock was turned in.

A customer who recently moved from Massachusetts speaks with a clerk at Central Connecticut Arms about Connecticut state gun regulations.

Ryan Lindsay / Connecticut Public Radio

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see a tremendous outcry from the gun-owning community over this because 99.999 percent of people don鈥檛 own a bump stock,鈥� said CCDL President Scott Wilson. 鈥淢ost have never even heard of a bump stock up until what happened in Las Vegas.鈥�

Wilson has never owned a bump stock and neither has Pizzi, an army veteran.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e very hard to use,鈥� Pizzi said. 鈥淵ou have to have a lot of pressure on them against your body to make them work.鈥�

After the Vegas shooting, some people called Pizzi鈥檚 shop with an interest in buying bump stocks but they鈥檙e not something Central Connecticut Arms has ever stocked.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not really anything that enhances the firearm at all. I kind of liken it to spinners on mag wheels, they鈥檙e all show, [but] they don鈥檛 really do much,鈥� Pizzi said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not accurate. It鈥檚 hard to fire with them. You can鈥檛 you know, really fire rapidly with them. It鈥檚 a novelty.鈥�

CCDL President Scott Wilson says the ban is more of a 鈥渇eel good piece of legislation鈥� than something that will actually make Connecticut safer.

鈥淚 think really that the legislation was poorly thought out,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淚 think it focused more on a false sense of security that somehow if they ban bump stocks people are inherently going to be safer.鈥�

Wilson points out that bump fire can still be achieved without using a bump stock. There are videos on YouTube of how to bump fire using belt loops, rubber bands and even fast fingers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just an accessory that can attach to a gun, but in and of itself, it鈥檚 not a weapon of any kind,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淪o they鈥檝e banned an object that is not even a firearm and they鈥檝e offered no means of compensation for anyone.鈥�

Bump stocks retail for more than $150 online. While states like Washington and Delaware offer buyback programs to incentivize people to surrender their bump stocks, Connecticut doesn鈥檛 have a buyback program or any plans to offer one.

Following the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on the Department of Justice to ban bump stocks and similar gun enhancements, though Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland shooter, didn鈥檛 use the device.

The DOJ anticipates litigation once the federal ban is officially enacted. In March, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives contending that bump fire stocks and bump stock-type devices are 鈥渕achine guns as defined by the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968.鈥�

The existing state bans don鈥檛 classify bump stocks as machine guns, but instead focus on the accessory鈥檚 ability to enhance a semi-automatic firearm鈥檚 rate of fire.

The new federal legislation would require bump stock owners to surrender or destroy their devices within 90 days of taking effect.

Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin, Texas sells bump stocks from Slide Fire, the online company that shut down its shop in June. He began purchasing the accessories from Slide Fire in 2017 and says he opposes a federal ban.

鈥淚f the federal government decides to ban bump stocks, we鈥檙e not going to comply,鈥� Cargill said. 鈥淎ny time your government tells you that they鈥檙e going to ban something you own and either confiscate it or make you turn it in, that is theft and we鈥檙e going to sue.鈥�

Some advocates for gun control, however, see a bump stock ban as one of few gun regulations the federal government is willing to implement.

鈥淭his law won鈥檛 make a huge difference in and of itself, but it鈥檚 important to plug all of the loopholes that allow criminals to wreak havoc with firearms,鈥� said Adam Winkler, a law professor at UCLA. 鈥淲e need to do everything we can that鈥檚 consistent with the Second Amendment to reduce gun violence.鈥�

In October 2018, on the first anniversary of the Las Vegas shooting, that his administration is of 鈥渒nocking out bump stocks,鈥� but he did not provide an actual date for enactment of the legislation.

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