[Huffpoo] President Donald Trump announced he has ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take steps to ban bump stocks, the type of gun modification that enabled Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock to kill 58 people in October.
"Just a few moments ago, I signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns," Trump said Tuesday while speaking at a medal of valor ceremony at the White House. "I expect that these critical regulations will be finalized ... very soon."
Bump stocks are devices that allow a semiautomatic gun to fire as quickly as a machine gun. Paddock was found to be in possession of more than a dozen assault-style rifles, many outfitted with bump stocks and 100-round magazines. He was ultimately able to fire more than 1,100 rounds in a period of 10 minutes.
In 2010, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled that it did not have the authority to regulate bump stocks because they are not technically "machine guns," which federal law defines as firearms that shoot more than one shot per pull of the trigger.
Justice Department officials said in December that they do not believe they could regulate bump stock sales without congressional action, according to The New York Times. |