Bump stocks therefore appear to be little more than a toy to increase firing speed while neglecting everything else.

In inexperienced hands, yes. In the hands of someone who knows all about recoil, not from book knowledge, but from personal experience, a bump stock can be almost as effective as fully militarized weapon. While I have never fired a bump stock modified weapon, I'm sure I can tell when three rounds have been sent on their way. Most military shoulder fired weapons are intricately designed, among other things, to minimize recoil drift as much as possible. Civilian shoulder fired weapons, while not designed for military precision, have this recoil drift taken as much into account as commercially possible.

Cyclical firing weapons are not designed hit one thing. They are area suppression devises or, in the heavier caliber weapons, they are designed to put as much armor piercing projectiles onto an armored target in as little time as possible. The most common example of this is the famous A-10 Warthog. But I digress.

Fifty caliber anti-armor sniper rifles are radically different from hunting rifles. Any 18 year old who can pass a Brady background check can buy a 50 caliber rifle under federal law. But one must be at least 21 years old to buy a handgun at a gun store. This weapon can fire a 12.7 mm round almost 2,000 yards (just over a mile). Bump stock rifles can get something accurately out to only about 100 feet.

A hammer is best used to hit a nail into wood (or something.) A screwdriver is best used to get a wood screw into wood by... well, you know. I would never use an M82 (the 50 cal) in a 1 v many skirmish inside a phone booth, nor would I use a bump stock thing to take out a bad guy a mile away.

Anyway, this conversation, while interesting, isn't really a good topic for GC, is it? My military background is best in the background. :)