Las Vegas Shooting Brings Up Gun Regulation Conversation For Maryland Lawmakers
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- As investigators reveal key details about the weapons used in the attack, lawmakers are taking action.
There are already two bills are in the works on Capitol Hill to ban "bump stocks." They're a kind of attachment that allowed the Vegas shooter to make his rifle fire at the speed of a machine gun.
Horrifying video captures the rapid-fire sound of lethal bullets raining down on Las Vegas concertgoers. The investigation has since revealed shooter Stephen Paddock used.
"Was it a regulatory misstep by ATF a number of years ago?" says Congressman Paul Ryan.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms determined in 2010 and again in 2012, that "Bump Stocks" are a firearm part and therefore don't fall under strict restrictions on automatic weapons.
Before the massacre, a hundred bucks could buy a bump stock. Now prices are ticking into the thousands. Two popular manufacturers have had to suspend taking orders due to extremely high demands.
On Thursday, the National Rifle Association released a statement saying it backs additional regulations for the devices, while lawmakers work to wipe them off the shelves with a bump stock ban.
"You have to stand up. You have to say enough is enough," says Senator Dianne Feinstein, of California.
Maryland Senator Chris van Hollen tweeting his support of California Senator Feinstein's bill.
Some try to trivialize efforts to reduce gun violence by calling it "political." Most Americans call it common sense.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) October 5, 2017
Congressman Elijah Cummings tweeted that it's on Congress to "end the use of bump stocks and the destruction they cause."
Congress must act to end the use of bump stocks and the destruction they cause. That's why I'm joining @davidcicilline's bill to ban them. https://t.co/eguMxXniqr
— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) October 5, 2017
Maryland lawmakers are this time visibly in agreement on a normally heated and divisive topic of gun regulation. The White House says the same, promising to join the discussion on Bump Stock regulation.
Using the bump stock allowed the shooter to fire at three times the speed of the shooter behind the Orlando massacre last year.
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