Republicans Open to Banning ‘Bump Stocks’ Used in Massacre
But in this week’s massacre in Las Vegas, lawmakers in both parties may have found the part of the weapons trade
that few could countenance: previously obscure gun conversion kits, called “bump stocks,” that turn semiautomatic weapons into weapons capable of firing in long, deadly bursts.
2 Republican in the Senate, said, adding, “It seems like it’s an obvious area we ought to explore and see if it’s something Congress needs to act on.”
Mr. Cornyn said the continuing legality of the conversion kits was “a legitimate question,” and told reporters he had asked Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Judiciary Committee chairman, to convene a hearing on
that issue and any others that arise out of the Las Vegas investigation.
“We certainly want to learn more details on what occurred in Las Vegas,” Mr. Rubio said, “and if there are vulnerabilities in federal law
that we should be addressing to prevent such attacks in the future, we would always be open to that.”
In the House, Representative Carlos Curbelo, Republican of Florida, said he was drafting bipartisan legislation banning the conversion kits.
WASHINGTON — Top congressional Republicans, who have for decades resisted any legislative limits on guns, signaled on Wednesday
that they would be open to banning the firearm accessory that the Las Vegas gunman used to transform his rifles to mimic automatic weapon fire.
T.F., sent a letter saying that the company’s bump stock product “is a firearm part
and is not regulated as a firearm under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act.”
The Las Vegas gunman fired down on concertgoers from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel.