WASHINGTON >> U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) and more than 130 co-sponsors, including House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chair Mike Thompson (CA-05) introduced legislation on Thursday to ban the manufacture, possession, transfer, sale, or importation of bump stocks like the one used to murder 59 innocent men and women earlier this week in Las Vegas.
“Bump stocks are a workaround existing law that make semi-automatic firearms function like full automatics,” said Thompson, Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “These devices drastically increase the weapons’ lethality. We don’t know how many lives could have been spared in Las Vegas had the shooter not had bump stocks, but know we must act to address this loophole.”
The Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act prohibits the sale of bump stocks, which were developed within the past decade to modify semi-automatic rifles.
When replacing the fixed stock on a rifle, a bump stock allows the shooter to fire at a rate of 400 to 800 rounds per minute, replicating the rate of fire of a fully automatic weapon (or “machine gun”) that propels multiple bullets with a single trigger pull.
“No person should possess a device that turns a semi-automatic rifle into the equivalent of a machine gun,” said Cicilline, who serves as Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “The sole purpose of these devices is to fire as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible. I’m introducing this bill today because we cannot become a country where the carnage in Las Vegas becomes the new normal.”
On Wednesday night, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed that the Las Vegas shooter had 12 bump stocks attached to rifles in his hotel room. Audio from the attack indicates he was able to fire his weapons at a rate of 9 bullets per second during an attack that lasted 9 to 11 minutes.
Fully automatic firearms are highly-regulated, requiring an extensive FBI background check and approval from the buyer’s local police department. Several states, including California, New York, and Rhode Island, have generally prohibited the possession of fully automatic firearms.
The sale of bump stocks, however, was approved by the U.S. Government in 2010.
Letters to the President
Since the massacre in Las Vegas, Thompson has been involved in a renewed effort to control accessories and discuss gun violence.
Thursday he was the lead author of a letter to the President urging him to take action to prohibit bump stocks. The letter was co-signed by the 13 vice-chairs of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
In June 2010, the ATF issued a letter in which it found that bump stocks are considered a “firearm part” and cannot be regulated under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act.
“We are urging you to instruct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to issue a clarification that bump stocks should be considered prohibited accessories under the National Firearms Act,” the Members said. “We believe that the ATF was incorrect in its assessment and ask that you instruct Acting Director Thomas Brandon to immediately issue a correction. Doing so is a necessary act to protect our communities from these dangerous firearm accessories.”
On Wednesday, he led a letter to the President asking him to meet with the Task Force to discuss how to protect Americans from gun violence while also protecting individuals’ Second Amendment right.
The letter is co-signed by the 96 members of the Task Force.
“Like you, we were shocked and saddened by the mass shooting in Las Vegas,” the Members wrote. “This year, we have lost more than 11,000 people in America due to gun violence. More than 23,000 have been injured. We think that you will agree that this is wrong and that the senseless horror must be addressed.
“For years, we have extended our hand and asked the Republican Leadership to come to the table to work with us to find a solution. At every turn, they have refused.
“That’s why we are asking you to meet with members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. You have the power to make real change in America and protect our communities from the senseless gun violence like we saw in Las Vegas. Together, we can find common ground that respects and supports the 2nd Amendment while keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them — criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. We are reaching out to you, please: join us in the fight to end gun violence.”
Feinstein bill gaining support
Meanwhile on Thursday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s latest gun control effort gained traction on Thursday, as some Republican leaders — and even the National Rifle Association — suggested they might be open to her proposal to ban bump stocks.
In a highly unusual move, leaders of the National Rifle Association — the most powerful gun group in the country — said in a statement that they believe “devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.” The NRA usually opposes nearly all gun control measures.
Bump stocks are already illegal under California state law, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.
In the wake of the carnage, Feinstein, one of the senate’s leading gun-control advocates, introduced a bill to ban bump stocks. “There is no better way than to honor the 59 people who were slaughtered than to take action to prevent this from happening yet again,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday. “If not, when will we ever do it?”
Feinstein’s bill has 29 co-sponsors, all Democrats or independents who caucus with Democrats. But Republican leaders also signaled this week that compromise was a possibility.
“It seems like it’s an obvious area we ought to explore and see if it’s something Congress needs to act on,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of the top Republicans in the Senate, told the New York Times. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on a radio show Thursday morning that bump stocks were “clearly… something that we need to look into.” He said he had never heard of the device before this week.
Bay Area News Group staff contributed to this report
