Some early congressional efforts to address the device proved to be non-starters, with the focus now on whether the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives might be able to revamp its own rules to include bump stocks under its regulations of automatic weapons.

"Ultimately, should the ATF make a determination that a bump stock on a firearm no longer allows that firearm to maintain the definition of 'semi-automatic,' then, obviously, it would no longer be protected under our rubric here,'' Taylor said. Only those who have permission to have fully automatic weapons would be able to have them; anyone else with a bump stock would have to destroy it.

Along the same lines, he said the legislation cannot be stretched to the point where Arizonans could claim it gives them the right to have any weapon they wanted. Taylor said courts would judge individuals using a "common-use test.''

"At no point has a thermonuclear weapon ever been in common use by civilians for their own defense,'' he said.

"In fact, at no point has a tank, at no point have Howitzers, at no point have any of these things been in common use for civilians for their defense,'' Taylor continued. "So that's already a non-starter with the court.''