SlideFire Has Chosen to Close Their Doors
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.19.18
Texas based SlideFire Solutions announced on their website that they will be officially closing their doors after May 20th, 2018.
What began as a small firearms accessory manufacturer in 2012, has become the focal point of gun control measures at a local level all the way to the White House. Founded in 2012 by Jeremiah Cottle, a USAF veteran who was wounded overseas, SlideFire has spent the last 6 years becoming the go to for legally increasing your rifle’s rate of fire.
For those who may not be familiar with bump-fire, SlideFire describes it as the following:
“Bump-fire is a well-established technique utilizing the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire multiple shots in rapid succession. The patented Slide Fire® stock allows shooters to bump-fire their rifles without compromising safety and accuracy.”
The product itself looks almost identical to a traditional 6 position AR-15 stock. The difference sits in the fact that the pistol grip and stock are one piece and create an almost accordion style effect with the firearm when fired. As seen in the video below, the recoil pushes the firearm backwards into the stock which, combined with forward pressure from the shooter, causes the shooter’s stationary finger to repeatedly depress the trigger.
While the stock itself has always been more of a gimmick tending to draw jeers from hard core gun enthusiasts, many people still loved the idea that they could buy a product that simulates full auto. Most of the general population had never even heard of bump-firing until the fall of 2017. The real trouble for SlideFire and bump stocks as a whole came after the deadly shooting in Las Vegas where gunman Stephen Paddock used an AR-15 equipped with a SlideFire stock. Following this tragedy, the media and general public turned their attention to SlideFire and began questioning it’s legality.
In march of 2018, the Department of Justice proposed new regulations to define bump stocks as ‘machineguns’. This decision, from an administration who positioned themselves as pro-gun rights, is very troubling as it appears they are caving to the media’s current gun control flavor of the week. Now, as opposed to weathering the impending storm, it appears that SlideFire has chosen to self elect and take themselves out of the conversation entirely.
We can only hope that this does not become a trend within the industry.
