Las Vegas shooting spurs legislation to ban bump stocks
ALLEN BREED / ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this Feb. 1, 2013, file photo, an employee of North Raleigh Guns demonstrates how a “bump” stock works at the Raleigh, N.C., shop. The gunman who unleashed hundreds of rounds of gunfire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, attached what is called a “bump-stock” to two of his weapons, in effect converting semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic ones.
Rep. Dina Titus wants to ban bump stocks, the devices found on a dozen guns in the hotel room of the Las Vegas shooter on Sunday.
Minutes after shaking President Donald Trump’s hand at the end of his visit to Las Vegas on Wednesday, the Nevada Democrat announced that she and Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., were pursuing legislation to ban the manufacture, possession, transfer, sale or importation of bump stocks.
“The victims and families in Las Vegas don’t need an explanation about the difference between machine guns and firearms with bump stocks,” Titus said. “They need action.”
Reps. Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen, both D-Nev., came out in support of the bill Wednesday.
“The victims of the heinous attack in Las Vegas deserve more than rhetoric from Congress,” Kihuen said. “They deserve action.”
The office of Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said the congressman was traveling with Trump and unable to immediately provide comment.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is one of the lawmakers who joined a push by Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., for similar legislation in the Senate.
“While I understand that all of the facts are still being gathered from the tragic events on Sunday night, it is increasingly clear that this loophole allowed a single person to kill and injure hundreds of innocent people and threaten over 22,000 concertgoers,” she said in a statement Wednesday.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the office of Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev.
A National Rifle Association spokeswoman did not indicate the organization’s stance on the bill on Wednesday.
The Hill reported Wednesday evening that a Florida Republican congressman was planning to introduce bipartisan legislation seeking the same ban on bump stocks. A spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
“It is sickening that a dangerous device like this is being sold commercially to increase the carnage of gun violence,” Rosen said.
Bump stocks are legal to buy in Nevada. They allow a semiautomatic rifle to fire as rapidly as a fully automatic weapon.
“I am introducing this legislation in hopes of closing this dangerous loophole and ensuring that civilians cannot modify their guns to fire nine bullets per second,” Titus said. “This is the least that we can do.”
Source:lasvegassun.com