US gun lobby for ban on rapid-fire device

WASHINGTON : The National Rifle Association, which spearheads America’s powerful gun lobby that has blocked all attempts to tighten gun laws for decades, has relented in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre and asked the government to review the sale of devices that allow weapons to shoot rapidly.

NRA’s announcement came a day after many Republican lawmakers joined their Democratic colleagues to call for a ban on “bump-stock” devices that allow non-automatic firearms to function like automatics.

It was a big step for the NRA, which has successfully blocked any attempt to change the country’s infamously slack gun laws and that many believe are at the root of mass shootings .

“The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” the NRA said in a statement.

Bump-stocks replace the standard wooden stock of a rifle on which a shooter rests a shoulder at the time of firing. The bumpstock lets the rifle fire more rapidly than it was designed to, turning it into an automatic weapon.

They have been cleared for sale twice by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. But the NRA said it was calling to “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law”.