Bump Stock Legislation
One month after they were used in the Las Vegas mass shooting, a leading manufacturer of bump stock devices, which allow semi-automatic weapons to be fired as if they were fully automatic, has resumed sales of the deadly accessory. Bipartisan bills that were introduced in the weeks after the massacre to outlaw the devices have stalled in committee as the NRA lobbies to pass the matter off the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which currently has no power to regulate firearm parts.
Rep. Christopher Smith and Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez have all cosponsored bump stock ban legislation (HR 3999 and S 1916) but these bills have gone nowhere as press coverage and the public’s memory of the Las Vegas massacre fade. The NRA wants the Trump administration to direct the ATF to outlaw bump stocks and similar devices. However, the agency has previously said it cannot regulate bump stocks under existing laws. In the meantime, demand for the devices among gun enthusiasts has soared in the past month. And now new bipartisan legislation is being introduced to simply regulate the devices (subject them to registration, background checks and a fee) rather than outlaw them altogether.
This is unacceptable. I strongly urge our elected officials and all citizens who value life to push for the bump stock ban. There is agreement among those on both sides of the aisle against anything allowing weapons to approach fully automatic status, and this device certainly does that. Outlawing this deadly device is literally the least we can do to make America safer. It is not enough to simply regulate these devices because there is no justifiable basis such as hunting or personal defense for an add-on firearm device that is designed solely to inflict mass casualties.
— Frances Carroll, Hamilton
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