Politics

Trump, Paul Ryan, and NRA All Open Door To Action On Bump Stocks

REUTERS/George Frey

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Action on bump stocks, an accessory that accelerates the shooting rate of semi-automatic rifles, could happen either legislatively or through administrative action.

The perpetrator of a mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 59 dead Sunday used bump stocks to rain down fire upon a country concert. President Trump was asked Thursday night about a ban on bump stocks and he responded, “We’ll be looking into that in the next short period of time.”

Earlier in the day, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, “We know that members of both parties and in multiple organizations are planning to take a look at bump stocks and related devices–we certainly welcome that and would like to be a part of that conversation.”

An Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms decision in 2010 allowed the sale of bump stocks and a reversal of this decision could be the simplest way to regulate the accessory. The National Rifle Association pointed towards this in a statement Thursday.

“The National Rifle Association is calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law. The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” the statement said.

Democratic lawmakers have called for legislation to deal with bump stocks. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to ban the accessory, and it has 38 Democratic co-sponsors, but no Republicans have signed on.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, “It’s premature to be discussing legislative solutions, if there are any.”

However, since then several top Republicans have signaled they are open to action on bump stocks.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday, “I own a lot of guns, and as a hunter and sportsman, I think that’s our right as Americans, but I don’t understand the use of this bump stock. It seems like it’s an obvious area we ought to explore and see if it’s something Congress needs to act on.”

Then on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan told MSNBC, “Apparently, this allows you to take a semiautomatic and turn it into a fully automatic. So clearly that’s something we need to look into.”