Marc Thiessen: The GOP's bump-stock cop-out

Do conservatives really want to set the precedent that ATF can ban firearms or firearm devices without explicit authorization from Congress?

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2013, file photo, an employee of North Raleigh Guns demonstrates how a "bump" stock works at the Raleigh, N.C., shop. The gunman who unleashed hundreds of rounds of gunfire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, attached what is called a "bump-stock" to two of his weapons, in effect converting semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic ones. (AP Photo/Allen Breed, File)

Congressional Republicans are backing away from legislation banning “bump stocks” — devices used by Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock that effectively turn semiautomatic rifles into machine guns — and are turning to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban them by executive action instead.