U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that will ban the sale and possession of bump stocks, and similar devices. Some people attach such devices to their semi-automatic gun to increase its firing rate.
The California senator’s move came after the Las Vegas shooting on Sunday night. The shooter named Stephen Paddock killed 59 people and injured more than 500 others.
On Tuesday, Jill Snyder, a special agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Paddock had 12 semi-automatic rifles with bump stocks.
On Wednesday, Feinstein said her bill officially known as Automatic Gun Fire Prevention Act will close a loophole that allows people to easily modify their semiautomatic guns to fire just like automatic weapons.
Under the bill, it is illegal sell, import, manufacture, transfer, or own bump stocks, trigger cranks, and similar accessories that accelerate the shooting rate of a semi-automatic rifle.
Feinstein made it clear that the bill only target those accessories that increase the firing rate of semi-automatic weapons. The bill will exempt legal accessories used by hunters. In addition, the bill contains exceptions t for lawful possession of bump stocks and similar devices by the government and law enforcement.
There is a loophole in the National Firearms Act
In a statement, Feinstein said, “We’ve now witnessed the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history… An American concert venue has now become a battlefield. We must stop this now.”
