Last updated November 2026 · By Nick Hall, tracks Florida firearms law and every Uthmeier opinion for USA Gun Shop readers
Quick take: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says the state’s 2018 bump-fire stock ban violates the Second Amendment, and his office won’t defend convictions under it. The statute itself hasn’t changed, and an attorney general’s opinion is not a court ruling.
- What happened: Uthmeier signed a six-page opinion dated November 13, 2026 concluding that section 790.222 of the Florida Statutes violates the Second Amendment.
- Why it matters: Breaking the ban is a third-degree felony worth up to five years in prison, and the AG says the law appears to reach trigger enhancements, not just bump stocks.
- What’s next: The AG’s office says it will not defend a conviction under 790.222, a promise that bites on appeal, where that office argues the state’s side.
- Who to watch: Florida’s elected state attorneys, who bring trial prosecutions, and the Legislature, which can repeal or rewrite the statute.
Most attorney general opinions answer a question some sheriff or county attorney mailed in. This one is addressed to nobody, signed by the AG himself, and lands on a felony statute he says people are still being arrested and prosecuted under. We read all six pages and the statute, so here is what it says and where it stops.
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Table of Contents
What the Uthmeier Bump Stock Opinion Says
The opinion is on State of Florida letterhead under Uthmeier’s name, dated November 13, 2026, and signed by him on the last page. He posted it on his X account that afternoon as four images, with pages three through six printed two to an image.
It frames one question: whether the bump-fire stock prohibition in section 790.222 “contravenes the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.” His answer comes in the next sentence. It does.
The reasoning runs the two-step test from Bruen. On the text, the opinion says a bump stock falls within the “Arms” the Second Amendment protects, whether you call it a component or an accessory. It argues bump stocks are not “dangerous and unusual,” because a rifle wearing one still fires a single shot per trigger function, and it cites an ATF estimate that over half a million bump-fire stock devices are in private circulation.
On history, Uthmeier writes that he is “unable to find such a tradition” of banning parts that speed up a semiautomatic’s reset. He points to nineteenth-century lever-action and revolving arms, which fired faster than the muzzleloaders before them. He also cites a 2018 news account of then-Governor Rick Scott saying at the signing that all “have to give a little and make a compromise.” The Constitution, the opinion answers, “brooks little compromise” on fundamental rights.
The conclusion is two sentences long. Section 790.222 “cannot be lawfully enforced by Executive Branch officials in Florida,” and “This Office will not defend a conviction under section 790.222.”
Why Section 790.222 Reaches Past the Bump Stock
The statute is short. Section 790.222 makes it a third-degree felony to import into Florida, transfer, distribute, sell, keep for sale, offer for sale, possess, or give away a bump-fire stock. Under section 775.082, a third-degree felony carries a prison term of up to five years.
It came in with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act in 2018, chapter 2018-3, and the problem is the definition. A “bump-fire stock” is “a conversion kit, a tool, an accessory, or a device” used to make a gun mimic automatic fire, or one used to fire faster “than is possible for a person to fire such semiautomatic firearm unassisted.” That second prong never mentions a stock.
Uthmeier’s own post says the law “appears to restrict the use of trigger enhancements used by firearms owners for lawful purposes,” and that people are being arrested and prosecuted under it. The opinion files “short or forced reset triggers” in the same family as bump stocks, buffer weights and trigger kits, and its conclusion talks about “accessories that merely change how quickly a trigger can reset.”
That is a fair one-line description of how forced reset triggers work. But the opinion’s question and holding are about the bump-fire stock prohibition, and it never states outright that 790.222 covers an FRT. Whether one fits the definition is still a question for a Florida court.
What the Opinion Does Not Do
It doesn’t repeal anything. The 2026 Florida Statutes still carry 790.222, with a history line that ends at chapter 2018-3, the law that created it. The Legislature can change that and a court can strike it. An attorney general cannot do either.
It isn’t a numbered formal opinion, either. Florida law has the AG give official opinions on the written request of officials, and this one names no requester and carries no AGO number. As of November 14 it isn’t posted on the office’s opinions page, where the newest entry is AGO 2026-07 from June 9.
It doesn’t clearly reach the people who file charges. Article V of the Florida Constitution, the judiciary article, elects a state attorney in each judicial circuit as “the prosecuting officer of all trial courts in that circuit.” The opinion talks about “Executive Branch officials” and never mentions state attorneys by name, and it does not claim to order anyone to drop a case. A week earlier, on November 6, his office issued the Florida AG’s SBR memo.
The hard promise is the appellate one. Under section 16.01, the attorney general appears for the state in criminal cases in the Florida Supreme Court and the district courts of appeal, so a defendant convicted at trial would meet a state lawyer who has already said in writing that the statute is unconstitutional and that his office will not defend the conviction. Until a state attorney says otherwise, possession is still a charge someone can bring.
Where Garland v. Cargill Fits In
In June 2024 the US Supreme Court held in Garland v. Cargill that a semiautomatic rifle with a bump stock is not a federal “machinegun” because it does not fire more than one shot “by a single function of the trigger.” That was a ruling about ATF exceeding its statutory authority, not a Second Amendment holding, so it left state bans like Florida’s alone.
Uthmeier quotes that same line on his last page. And that is the gap the opinion is written to close: federal law stopped treating bump stocks as machine guns more than two years ago, while Florida kept a felony on the books for owning one.
What Happens Next for Florida Bump Stock Owners
The clean fix is legislative. The Legislature passed 790.222 and can repeal or narrow it, and the opinion doesn’t ask it to. Until something changes, treat the statute as live law and check Florida gun laws before you buy, sell or bring a bump stock or a fast-reset trigger into the state.
I’d expect defense lawyers to put this opinion in front of trial judges in pending 790.222 cases. A judge doesn’t have to follow it. A prosecutor who keeps charging has to explain why the state’s own lawyer won’t stand behind the conviction.
Six pages. One promise about appeals. And a felony statute that still reads exactly the way it did in 2018.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are bump stocks legal in Florida?
Section 790.222 of the Florida Statutes still bans them. On November 13, 2026, Attorney General James Uthmeier issued an opinion saying the ban violates the Second Amendment, cannot be lawfully enforced by Executive Branch officials and will not be defended by his office on appeal. That opinion is not a court ruling and did not change the statute, and Florida's elected state attorneys bring trial prosecutions.
What does Florida's bump-fire stock law prohibit?
It bars anyone from importing a bump-fire stock into Florida or transferring, distributing, selling, keeping for sale, offering for sale, possessing or giving one to another person. The law defines a bump-fire stock as a conversion kit, tool, accessory or device used to make a firearm mimic automatic fire or to fire faster than a person could fire the semiautomatic firearm unassisted.
What is the penalty for having a bump stock in Florida?
A violation of section 790.222 is a third-degree felony. Under section 775.082, a third-degree felony carries a prison term of up to five years.
Does Florida's bump stock ban cover forced reset triggers?
The statute does not name forced reset triggers. Its definition covers any kit, tool, accessory or device used to raise a semiautomatic firearm's rate of fire beyond what a person can manage unassisted, and the Attorney General has said the law appears to restrict trigger enhancements. Whether a specific FRT fits that definition is a question for a Florida court.
Is a Florida attorney general opinion binding?
It is not a court ruling and it does not change a statute. It states the legal position of the Attorney General's office, which represents the state in criminal appeals before the Florida Supreme Court and the district courts of appeal. Trial prosecutions are brought by the state attorney elected in each judicial circuit.
Did Garland v. Cargill make bump stocks legal in every state?
No. In 2024 the Supreme Court held that a semiautomatic rifle with a bump stock is not a machinegun under federal law, so ATF could not ban bump stocks by rule. It was a statutory decision, not a Second Amendment one, and it did not affect state bans such as Florida's.
When did Florida ban bump stocks?
In 2018, as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, chapter 2018-3, Laws of Florida, which Governor Rick Scott signed into law.
Related Reading
- Florida AG: SBRs and SBSs Legal Without NFA Registration
- Florida Gun Laws: Constitutional Carry, Open Carry and Stand Your Ground
- Best FRT Triggers: 5 Forced Reset Triggers Ranked
- Supreme Court Reverses the Federal Bump Stock Ban
- Fifth Circuit Splits 9-8, Won’t Fast-Track Machine Gun Case
- US Gun Laws by State: A Legal Directory
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