but you would be wrong. a combination of red tape, white house foot dragging and washington gridlock is to blame and here is how it happened. first, donald trump gave the atf the lead in getting rid of bump stocks back in 2010 the agency declared they were a gun accessory, therefore, perfectly legal under existing federal law. a stance they reiterated after the vegas shooting. that s when the publish backlash started. e-mails show the agency wasn t remotely ready. we, the atf are getting hammered with the narrative we approved the bump stock. it s extremely political with the nra and some gop congressmen jumping on us, we are in crisis mode. at the if the atf seemed like a mess that s what you say it was. it had seen its staff cut, budget stagnate and director s seat left vacant for years at a time. with congress calling for immediate legislation trump decided to go with the regulation route instead. he ordered his justice department to enact a ban while