Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier stated on Friday that his office will no longer defend convictions under the state’s ban on bump stocks, declaring the 2018 law unconstitutional.
The decision arrives after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal bump stock ban in 2024, ruling that the accessories do not legally convert semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic weapons.
Uthmeier outlined the shift in a post on X, pointing out that the state statute restricts firearm attachments used for lawful purposes. Sun Sentinel reported that the attorney general’s formal legal opinion argues the measure places a categorical prohibition on components protected by the Second Amendment.
“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,” Uthmeier said on X.
Bump stocks drew intense scrutiny following the October 1, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas, where a gunman fired more than 1,000 rounds from a 32nd-floor hotel window into an outdoor concert crowd, killing 58 people and wounding over 400 others. The federal government subsequently banned the accessories, but the Supreme Court overturned that regulation in a 6-3 decision.
The justices found that because bump stocks still require the shooter to release and reengage the trigger for each shot, they fall outside the legal definition of automatic weapons.
Despite the federal reversal, Florida retained its own state-level ban. Lawmakers included the restriction in a sweeping legislative package passed in 2018 following the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which killed 17 people, including 14 children.
That legislation also funded school safety measures, established a guardian program to train armed school personnel, raised the rifle purchase age from 18 to 21, and enacted red flag laws.
The 2018 package passed with bipartisan support, though it fractured both political parties at the time.
Then-Gov. Rick Scott signed the measure into law and defended it as a vital safeguard against mass violence. Conversely, Gov.-elect Byron Donalds voted against the legislation during his tenure in the Florida House and campaigned against its gun control provisions.
State lawmakers have not yet announced whether they will attempt to repeal the ban during the upcoming legislative session or wait for further judicial rulings.
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