No place for rifle bump stocks in Connecticut

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, further burnishing his hallmark common-sense gun safety initiatives, has proposed legislation to ban the bump stock, the weapon attachment that can turn a conventional semi-automatic rifle into a rapid-fire slaughtering machine — in Connecticut. Bravo, Governor Malloy. A bump stock essentially harnesses the power of a weapon’s recoil to cock it faster and let a semiautomatic rifle — one trigger pull, one bullet — fire like an automatic — squeeze the trigger and the bullets keep coming.

The Las Vegas shooter had equipped with bump stocks 12 of the 23 weapons he had in his 32nd-floor hotel room last October when he showered fire on concert goers and killed 58 and wounded hundreds.

“Bump stocks are cheap, they are deadly and they have no place in our society,” Malloy said in announcing his legislative proposal. Amen to that. In fact, these devices turn weapons into such deadly mutations that even the National Rifle Association, the steadfast opponent of most any gun regulation, shockingly agrees.

Last October, after the slaughter in Las Vegas, the NRA said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives should “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.

“The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.”

Well, Malloy is not waiting for approval from above or action from others to continue pushing Connecticut into the forefront of the fight for gun safety.

Malloy’s proposed ban would cover not only the bump stock, but other devices he referred to as “rate of fire enhancements,” like binary trigger systems and trigger cranks, two other workarounds designed to boost the rapid-fire capabilities of semi-automatic weapons. The Legislature should embrace these proposals.

And it would also cover the sale as well as the possession of the items.

It is a credit to the NRA that it recognizes the dubious role of a bump stock, even among the most unyielding of gun enthusiasts.

We would hope that the organization would see also the public’s demand for universal background checks for prospective gun purchasers as another non-threatening step toward a safer America.

The issue of “rate of fire enhancements” is not a Second Amendment issue. This is a common-sense action designed to protect the citizens of Connecticut.

A madman with a legal gun is a danger that, alas, we have to live with.

A madman with a legal gun that he can modify to satisfy his bloodlust is a peril we should not have to live with.