Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban the sale and possession of bump stocks, the firearm add-ons that allowed the killer in Las Vegas to fire off repetitive shots.
‘In just nine minutes an individual was able to turn a concert venue into a battlefield,’ Feinstein told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference, flanked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whose home state was rattled in 2012 by the Sandy Hook mass shooting, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Overall, Feinstein got 29 of her fellow Democrats to sign on in just a few hours.
Zero Republicans joined in the effort, though several GOP senators indicated Wednesday that the measure isn’t dead upon arrival, like most gun control proposals.
The Senate’s third-ranking Republican, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said bump stocks are ‘something I think we’ll look at,’ while Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, suggested it was a ‘good time’ to hold a hearing on the matter.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation alongside her Democratic colleagues on Wednesday to ban the sale and possession of bump stocks, of which the Las Vegas killer had 12 such devices, she said
Sen. Dianne Feinstein was joined at a press conference by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. (left), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. (right)
ON THE FENCE? Republican Sens. John Thune, R-S.D. (left) and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. (right) both indicated Wednesday that the bump stock issue was worth a look
‘I’m not an expert on bump stocks, [but] all things that make America safer and don’t infringe on the Second Amendment, count me in,’ Graham said, according to CBS News.
On Sunday night, when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock pumped bullet after bullet into the crowd below his Mandalay Bay hotel room he had 12 such devices, Feinstein said.
So far the death toll stands at 58, with more than 400 wounded.
‘Those numbers are simply stunning,’ Feinstein uttered.
The devices, known as ‘bump stocks’ among other names, are legal and originally were intended to help people with limited hand mobility fire a semi-automatic without the individual trigger pulls required.
They can fit over the rear shoulder-stock assembly on an automatic rifle and with applied pressure cause the weapon to fire continuously, increasing the rate from between 45 and 60 rounds per minute to between 400 and 800 rounds per minute, according to Feinstein’s office.
The California Democrat explained how bump stocks cost less than $200 and turn legal semiautomatic weapons into automatic ones, which are supposed to be illegal for civilians to have in the United States.
The bill makes it illegal for anyone to ‘import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess’ trigger cranks or bump stocks, along with any other device that turns a semiautomatic weapon into a ‘machine gun.’
‘The only reason to modify a gun is to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible,’ Feinstein said.
The quick pace of the gun fire from Sunday’s shooting was audible in video footage from the event, as Paddock sprayed bullets onto attendees of the Route 91 Harvest country musical festival on the Las Vegas strip.
‘The searing noise of that staccato firing in Las Vegas that every body has now heard countless times should be a wake-up call to this Congress,’ said Blumenthal when he took his turn at the podium. ‘That firing ought to be echoing in our minds as we consider whether a bump stock device should be able to be sold lawfully, online.’
The devices, known as ‘bump stocks’ among other names, are legal and originally were intended to help people with limited hand mobility fire a semi-automatic without the individual trigger pulls required
They can fit over the rear shoulder-stock assembly on an automatic rifle and with applied pressure cause the weapon to fire continuously, increasing the rate from between 45 and 60 rounds per minute to between 400 and 800 rounds per minute
Rep Bill Flores, a popular Texas conservative serving in his fourth term in the House, was the first congressional Republican to endorse the idea of a ban on bump stocks.
Flores’ spokesman confirmed the congressman’s position on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, the senior Republican senator from Texas, also told reporters Wednesday that the bump stock issue is worth examining, and that he spoke with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about holding a hearing.
‘I will tell you that the unique aspect of the bump stock and how you would literally transform a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic weapon is something that I think bears looking into…’ Cornyn said.
Several other Senate Republicans also signaled their desire for a hearing on bump stocks.
President Trump visited survivors, family members, first responders and medical providers in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Speaking directly to the president, Blumenthal said: ‘I hope you will provide leadership and at the very least back a bill that sops these killer accelerators, like these bump stops.’
So far the White House, along with many Congressional Republicans, have said now is not the time to be discussing gun control measures.
Feinstein, echoing many of her fellow Democrats, asked, ‘If not, when will we ever do it?’
At the presser she also talked about how close she came to having a truly personal stake in this latest gun-related tragedy.
‘My own daughter was going to go. They were going to go with neighbors. They were going to stay at that hotel,’ she said. ‘That’s how close it came to me.’
‘I thought, oh God, it’s one of those misses in life,’ the Democratic senator said.