BUMP Act

This bill bans devices and modifications that make a semiautomatic gun fire much faster, like a machine gun. It defines a semiautomatic firearm as one that fires a round, cycles the next round, and needs a separate trigger action for each shot, and is not a machine gun. Starting 120 days after it becomes law, it would be illegal to import, sell, make, transfer, receive, or possess any device—manual, power-driven, or electronic—designed to increase a gun’s rate of fire or mimic a machine gun. It also bans owning semiautomatic guns that have been modified to do the same.

People who already own a semiautomatic gun modified this way before the law takes effect would have 120 days to register it under existing federal registration rules. The ban does not apply to the U.S. government, states, tribes, or their agencies. Pre-modified guns can still be legally possessed or transferred if they were lawful before and are registered as required. Penalties are updated to cover these new rules, and modified semiautomatic guns are added to the list of tightly regulated firearms under federal law.

Key points

• Who is affected: Gun owners, sellers, and makers; government agencies are exempt.
• What changes: Bans devices and modifications that increase a semiautomatic gun’s rate of fire or make it act like a machine gun; adds a clear definition of “semiautomatic firearm”.
• When: The ban and registration requirements start 120 days after the law is enacted.