Florida's Attorney General Calls the 2018 Bump-Stock Ban Unconstitutional and Will Not Defend Convictions

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What happened

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a formal legal opinion on Friday, Nov. 13, concluding that section 790.222 of the Florida Statutes, the state's 2018 ban on bump-fire stocks, violates the Second Amendment. According to reporting by Florida Politics and Florida Voice News, the opinion states that the law cannot be lawfully enforced by executive branch officials in Florida and that his office will not defend a conviction under it.

Uthmeier announced the opinion on X shortly before 3 p.m. Eastern. "People are being arrested and prosecuted under a 2018 law that banned 'bump stocks,'" he wrote. "As currently written, the overly broad law appears to restrict the use of trigger enhancements used by firearms owners for lawful purposes, subjecting them to five years in prison." He added that his office "will not defend a conviction under the statute going forward."

The statute makes it a third-degree felony to import, transfer, sell, possess or give another person a bump-fire stock. It defines that term broadly: any conversion kit, tool, accessory or device used to make a firearm mimic automatic fire, or to raise its rate of fire above what a person could achieve unassisted.

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The legal reasoning

As described in published reports, the six-page opinion applies the Supreme Court's 2022 test from New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. It treats bump stocks as "arms" covered by the Second Amendment's plain text, which shifts the burden to the state to show a historical tradition of comparable restrictions. Uthmeier says he found none, pointing to earlier firearms such as lever-action and revolving designs that also increased rates of fire.

The opinion also leans on Garland v. Cargill, the Supreme Court's 2024 decision holding that a semiautomatic rifle fitted with a bump stock fires only one round per function of the trigger and is therefore not a machine gun under federal law. Florida Voice News reports the opinion argues that the statute's wording reaches common lawful upgrades such as lighter trigger kits, buffer weights and springs, and short- or forced-reset triggers. Florida Politics reports the opinion leaves room for the state to regulate devices that genuinely convert a semiautomatic firearm into a machine gun.

Legal / factual context

What it does and does not change

The opinion does not repeal the law. Florida attorney general opinions are advisory and do not bind courts, and section 790.222 remains in effect until the Legislature repeals it or a court strikes it down. Coverage by AmmoLand notes the decision does not by itself invalidate existing convictions or establish that local state attorneys will stop filing cases.

Cargill interpreted a federal statute, not the Second Amendment, so it did not directly affect state bans like Florida's. Florida Politics reports that legislative repeal bills failed in committee in 2025 and again in 2026. Supporters of the ban point to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, in which the gunman used bump stocks, as evidence that rate-of-fire devices pose particular danger. The law was signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act after the Parkland shooting.