U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has introduced federal legislation today to ban the sale and possession of bump-fire stocks or any other device, attachment, or accessory that can accelerate a semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire. Senator Feinstein previously included a bump stock ban in her failed 2013 attempt to reinstate the federal Assault Weapons Ban in response to the Newtown school shootings; it was defeated in the U.S. Senate on April 17, 2013 by a vote of 40 to 60. With every tragedy, the Senator seeks political advantage and has again raised the issue.
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Jill Schneider released the following information on the firearms possessed by the gunman in the Las Vegas concert shooting, stating that there has been a lot of unofficial information being reported on the firearms and she wanted to clear up any conflicting information:
– 47 firearms were recovered from three locations: the gunman’s hotel room and two homes that he owned in Mesquite and Verde, Nevada. (Officials had previously disclosed that 23 firearms were found in the hotel room and 17 at the shooter’s Mesquite, Nevada residence; on Tuesday, they reported that they had found five additional handguns, two shotguns, and a “plethora of ammunition” at the Verde residence.)
– The firearms were purchased in Nevada, Utah, California, and Texas and consisted of rifles, shotguns, and pistols.None of the firearms appeared to have been “home made.”
– Twelve “bump fire stocks” were identified on firearms found in the hotel room.
– The ATF has traced all of the gunman’s firearms and is still determining which of the firearms were used in the shooting.
The ATFE Firearms & Ammunition Technology Division has previously determined that devices such as bump fire stocks do not mechanically alter the function of the firearm to fire fully automatic making them legal under current federal law. Bump Fire Stocks use recoil to bounce the rifle off the shooter’s shoulder and “bump” the trigger back into the trigger finger, thereby allowing for more rapid firing than possible with regular trigger-pulls. These devices are not used by serious shooters because you are unable to aim while firing. They are seen as range toys which waste ammunition to no effect.
You can read the body of Feinstein’s Bill here, Automatic Gun Fire Prevention Act
National news outlets are reporting that Walmart and Cabela’s pulled bump-fire gun stocks from their websites today. The product pages for Slide Fire Solutions bump-fire stocks have been removed from the Walmart and Cabela’s websites, even though archived pages and Google search results show multiple bump-fire stocks for sale by both retailers.
Feinstein released a statement Tuesday evening, stating that she was considering “how best to proceed with legislation to finally close this loophole.”
Photo courtesy of Fox 25 Boston
