Bump Stock Ban Puts Fate of Small West Texas Town in Limbo

MORAN, TX—About 20 miles north of Cisco, on Highway 6, is a town that is “fading” according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram and The Houston Chronicle. That town is called Moran.

Moran is where the bump stock, a controversial firearm add-on, was manufactured. And it gave this town of 267 people a purpose.

Above: The town of Moran in relation to San Angelo.

The company which makes bump stocks, Slide Fire, is now on the brink, rather, Moran, as a whole, is on the brink of disaster.

The report from the Houston Chronicle and Midland Reporter-Telegram says the Methodist Church is for sale and the only restaurant in town, Pizza Mark, frequently closes at 2 p.m. The cause is the proposed ban on bump stocks, the main source of revenue to the small town on Highway 6. The proposed ban is in currently in a Department of Justice comment period.

Jeremiah Benjamin Cottle, better known as Ben, conjured up the device which makes semi-automatic rifles fire like machine guns. Cottle got rich and brought fame to his hometown with the invention of the bump stock and the forming of his company.

Cottle started his company on his family’s ranch in a small shed, patented his invention and upgraded to a massive warehouse just east of the small town. Bump stocks were flying off the shelves to gun enthusiasts at “several hundred dollars apiece,” according to the report

But the tragic shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, began Slide Fire's downfall, in a city nearly 1,100 miles away. A gunman in a high rise hotel shot and killed 58 people and 12 of the guns used were outfitted with bump stocks, reports say.

Residents in Moran, as well as many others, feel the blame should fall on the person wielding the weapon and not on the weapon itself. After all, the residents of this rural community grew up with guns. They use guns to hunt and protect their families and property.

Now the town of Moran, where the chunk of residents are employed by Slide Fire, will likely be without jobs since the company has not taken a new order since May 20 and is expected to cease operations for good.