MAGA Republicans block bump stock ban

WASHINGTON — Today, GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released a statement after extremists in the Senate Republicans conference blocked a vote on a bipartisan bill to ban bump stocks. Last week, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule banning bump stocks.

“Bump stocks are designed to do one thing: turn semiautomatic rifles into machine guns. In 2017, a man with bump stocks killed 60 people at a music festival, and injured 400 more in just 11 minutes. By blocking today’s vote, extremist Senate Republicans put every community in America in danger, ” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “Banning bump stocks isn’t controversial. Americans don’t want automatic weapons on our streets—only the gun lobby does. Senate Republicans today made the indefensible decision to prioritize gun industry profits over our kids’ safety. November’s elections just got even more important.”

Rifles equipped with bump stocks were used in the shooting on October 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, where the shooter fired more than 1,000 rounds in 11 minutes—killing 60 people. After the shooting, ATF issued a rule categorizing bump stocks as machine guns under the federal Gun Control Act and National Firearms Act. Civilian ownership of newly manufactured machine guns has been illegal since 1986.

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