Gun Rights Group Targets Maryland's Bump Stock Ban

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A gun rights advocate group has filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Bump Stock Bill recently signed by Gov. Larry Hogan, which calls for a ban on the devices. The all volunteer, non-partisan organization Maryland Shall Issue filed the complaint Monday and says the ban is unconstitutional.

A bump stock is an attachment that allows a semi-automatic weapon to fire at the rate of an automatic weapon. Bump stocks were found attached to 13 rifles found inside the 32nd floor Mandalay Bay suite where a gunman opened fire on a country music festival, killing 58 people in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, according to law enforcement's preliminary investigative report.

The Senate Bill 707 says a person may not “transport” into Maryland or “manufacture, possess, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a rapid-fire trigger activator.”

"The lawsuit challenges the newly enacted SB 707 on multiple grounds, including as unconstitutional taking of private property under the Takings Clause of the federal Constitution and the Maryland Constitution and as unlawful seizure of private property under Article 24 of the State Constitution," Maryland Shall Issue said.

The group also believes the ban is unconstitutionally vague and violates the Due Process Clause.

SEE RELATED: President Trump Favors Bump Stock Ban

Search warrant documents show the Las Vegans gunman's affinity for the device. He wrote, "for a thrill try out bumpfire ar's with a 100 round magazine," to another person in July 2017, months before the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history.

Maryland's bump stock ban was signed into law by Hogan on April 24 and will take effect Oct. 1. A violation of the ban is punishable with up to three years in prison or a fine of $5,000 or both.

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Photo: A 7,62X39mm round sits next a a 30 round magazine and an AK-47 with a bump stock installed at Good Guys Gun and Range on February 21, 2018 in Orem, Utah. The bump stock is a device when installed allows a semi-automatic to fire at a rapid rate much like a fully automatic gun. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)