Shooting instructor Frankie McRae demonstrates the grip on an AR-15 rifle fitted with a bump stock at his 37 PSR Gun Club in Bunnlevel, N.C., on Oct. 4.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and two members of the state’s congressional delegation say they support President Trump’s call for a ban on “bump stocks.”
Those are the devices used by the killer who murdered 58 and injured hundreds in the Oct. 1 shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. They enable a semi-automatic rifle to fire more than 200 bullets per minute.
Trump has called on his attorney general to draft regulations banning any devices that effectively turn a semi-automatic rifle into a machine gun. In his directive to AG Jeff Sessions, Trump referenced the Las Vegas massacre.
“I have said before that the federal action is the appropriate approach for sanctions on bump stocks or similar accessories as it would be the most direct path for a swift and uniform change,” said Sandoval. “I applaud President Trump for making this issue a priority within his administration.”
Attorney General Adam Laxalt also commended the president for issuing the directive saying the Department of Justice should review whether bump stocks should be regulated like automatic weapons.
“I support his efforts to protect Nevadans and all citizens from the dangers posed by unrestricted fully automatic weapons,” he said.
Democratic Nevada House members Dina Titus and Jacky Rosen of Las Vegas also issued statements supporting the effort but calling on Trump and the Congress to go farther improving background checks and limiting high-capacity magazines.
Rosen said she welcomes the decision, “to have the Department of Justice make this long overdue change on bump stocks.”
She said Congress should follow suit with a statutory ban on the devices
“It’s time for Congress to finally treat gun violence like an urgent public health crisis and take meaningful action on other common sense solutions,” she said.
Titus too welcomed Trump’s directive but said she is worried there will be no follow-through.
“We need more than an assurance from President Trump and Attorney General Sessions that the administration is working to prevent future acts of gun violence,” she said.
Titus called for Congress to act and ban the devices.
She also called on Congress to pass legislation banning high-capacity magazines and expand background checks including reporting anyone who buys multiple semi-automatic weapons.