Florida’s Attorney General Says the State’s Bump Stock Ban Is Unconstitutional: What It Means (and Where Pennsylvania Stands)

November 14, 2026 — Informational legal-news update. Facts in this article are current as of November 14, 2026.

On November 13, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a formal legal opinion concluding that Florida’s ban on bump-fire stocks, Fla. Stat. § 790.222, violates the Second Amendment. The opinion states that the statute “cannot be lawfully enforced by Executive Branch officials in Florida” and that “[t]his Office will not defend a conviction under section 790.222.”

That announcement is not a repeal, and no court has struck the law down. The statute remains on the books.

How Florida’s ban got on the books

The Legislature enacted § 790.222 in 2018 as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott after the Parkland shooting. The statute defines a “bump-fire stock” as a conversion kit, tool, accessory, or device used to make a firearm mimic automatic fire or to increase its rate of fire beyond what a person can achieve unassisted. Importing, transferring, distributing, selling, possessing, or giving a bump-fire stock to another person is a felony of the third degree, punishable by up to five years in prison under Fla. Stat. § 775.082.

What the opinion concludes

Applying the Supreme Court’s framework in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, Uthmeier concluded that bump stocks are “Arms” covered by the Second Amendment’s plain text, whether treated as a firearm component or an accessory. That shifts the burden to the government to show a historical tradition of similar bans. He said he found none. The opinion points to nineteenth-century lever-action and revolving firearms that raised rates of fire, and notes that until 1986 federal law allowed civilians to acquire registered automatic weapons.

The opinion also rejects the argument that bump stocks are “dangerous and unusual” weapons outside the Amendment’s protection. It cites a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimate, from a 2018 federal rulemaking, of more than half a million bump-fire stock devices in private circulation, and notes that they are designed for common platforms such as the AR-15.

The opinion relies on Garland v. Cargill, the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision holding that a rifle equipped with a bump stock fires only one shot per function of the trigger and is not a “machinegun” under the National Firearms Act. Cargill was a statutory ruling about the federal definition of a machine gun. It was not a Second Amendment ruling, and it did not invalidate state-level bans. Florida’s statute stayed in force after Cargill. Uthmeier’s opinion applies Bruen to that remaining state prohibition. He also wrote that the state could still regulate devices that truly convert a semiautomatic firearm into a machine gun, but that bump stocks do not do that.

The statute is still on the books

In Florida, Attorney General opinions are advisory. They do not bind courts. Unless the Legislature repeals the statute or a court invalidates it, the text remains law.

Legislative efforts to repeal the ban have not succeeded. In 2025, House Bill 6013 and Senate Bill 1234, both of which would have repealed § 790.222, died in their respective criminal-justice committees. In 2026, House Bill 6021, another repeal bill, died in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on March 13.

Readers in Florida should not treat the Attorney General’s announcement as authorization to possess or transfer a bump stock. The statute has not been removed. Check current law, and get legal advice about your own situation, before acting.

What it means for Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has no statewide bump-stock ban. Under federal law after Cargill, a bump stock is not a machine gun. Those two points do not end the inquiry.

Philadelphia passed a local ordinance, signed by Mayor Cherelle Parker in 2024, that prohibits manufacturing or buying devices designed to accelerate how fast a semiautomatic firearm can fire, including bump stocks and so-called “switches.” In late July 2025, Common Pleas Court Judge Caroline Turner dismissed a challenge to that ordinance filed by Philadelphia residents Vern Lei and Ross Gilson. The plaintiffs appealed. This article does not report the later status of that appeal, and it does not predict the outcome.

The case sits against the backdrop of Pennsylvania’s firearms preemption statute, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6120, which generally provides that no county, municipality, or township may regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by state law. Whether that statute reaches a local ordinance on rate-of-fire devices is a question for the courts. This article does not take a position on how that question should be resolved.

Travel matters as well. Several states still ban bump stocks or similar rapid-fire devices, including New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Delaware. Readers should check current state and local law before buying, possessing, or traveling with any such device.

A “switch” or auto sear is a different thing. Federal law defines a machine gun to include certain parts designed to convert a weapon into a machine gun. Devices commonly called switches or auto sears are treated as machine guns under federal law everywhere in the United States, including in Pennsylvania. Nothing in Cargill or in Uthmeier’s opinion changes that.

Bottom line: On November 13, 2026, Florida’s Attorney General issued an advisory opinion concluding that the state’s 2018 bump-stock ban violates the Second Amendment and that his office will not defend convictions under it. The statute has not been repealed or struck down by a court, and repeal bills died in committee in 2025 and 2026. Pennsylvania has no statewide bump-stock ban, but Philadelphia has a local ordinance that was appealed after a July 2025 trial-court dismissal, and several nearby states still ban these devices. Switches and auto sears remain machine guns under federal law. Readers should check current federal, state, and local law before buying or traveling.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. It is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. Check current federal, state, and local law before buying, possessing, or traveling with a firearm accessory. Sources reviewed November 14, 2026 (ET).

Tags: Bump Stocks, Federal Law, Florida, Pennsylvania, Second Amendment

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