Denver councilman proposes ban on bump stocks

Denver soon could adopt a ban on “bump stocks” like the device that a Las Vegas gunman used in October to turn his semiautomatic rifles into rapid-fire weapons, spraying bullets on concertgoers from above.

The City Council next week will begin consideration of an ordinance change that would make it unlawful to sell, carry, store or possess a bump stock device within Denver city limits.

The proposal, floated by Councilman Rafael Espinoza, would modify a 28-year-old assault weapons ban that has survived two court challenges. That local law already prohibits the types of semiautomatic rifles that can be modified with a bump stock, as well as limiting the capacity of their magazines.

But Espinoza said the ordinance should recognize the full range of options available to modify weapons.

“I’m under no illusion that if somebody is hell-bent on committing a heinous crime, they could both have larger magazines and modify their weapon,” he said, by skirting the law or buying outside the city. “But that said, the only people in the city and county of Denver that should have that kind of firepower are law enforcement and trained officials.”

Espinoza has cited as the impetus for his proposal the public calls for action at all levels of government in the wake of the Oct. 1 shooting, which killed 58 people and injured more than 500.

Congress is considering bills proposing federal bans on bump stocks. But the National Rifle Association, while supporting some regulation of bump stocks, has opposed an outright ban.

The interest group’s chief lobbyist has argued that bans never work and that more public focus should be placed on preventing bad human behavior.

In Denver, Espinoza first mentioned that he was working on a proposal Nov. 6. He responded after a Colorado Army National Guard member spoke during a public comment session for the second time in a month and urged the council to pass a bump-stock ban and other guncontrol measures.

“This is what we need to do to prevent further mass shootings with AR-15s and devices that are intended solely to kill mass numbers of people,” said Alan Kennedy-Shaffer, who is also a Democratic candidate for state Senate in northwest Denver, according to a recording of the session.

“Those ideas are not falling on deaf ears,” Espinoza said minutes later from the dais.

As proposed, his measure defines bump stocks as “any device for a pistol, rifle or shotgun that increases the rate of fire achievable with such weapon by using energy from the recoil of the weapon to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger.”

It also would modify the magazine capacity limit to conform with a four-year-old state law. Denver’s assault weapons ban set the magazine capacity limit at 20 rounds, but in 2013 the state legislature passed a 15round limitation for magazines as part of a trio of controversial gun-control bills.

The Denver council’s safety committee will consider Espinoza’s proposal at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Room 391 of the City and County Building. The committee plans to allow 15 minutes for public comment.

If the committee advances the measure, it could face a final vote by the full council as soon as Jan. 22.