Over the weekend, big time gun lobbyists, the National Rifle Association said they would oppose an outright bump-stock ban. A bump-stock is a device that enables rifles automatic firing, such as we saw in the recent Las Vegas massacre, where 58 people died.
According to police, Stephen Paddock, 64, fitted 12 of his weapons with bum stocks, turning semi-auto rifles to automatic fire guns, which in themselves are against the law in the US.
Last week the NRA voiced a willingness to support restrictions on bump stocks, but when faced with the prospect of an outright ban, said it would turn to oppose legislation banning the devices.
“We don’t believe that bans have ever worked on anything. What we have said has been very clear — that if something transfers a semiautomatic to function like a fully automatic, then it ought to be regulated differently,” Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, stated on Fox News Sunday.
“This is the first time that the gun lobby has shown willingness to come to the table and I think that’s in part because Americans just simply do not accept mass shooting after mass shooting happening and Congress doing absolutely nothing,” CNN heard from Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy “State of the Union.”