Republicans Oppose Banning Bump Stocks Used In Las Vegas Shooting

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans this week ruled out a new ban on bump stocks, ensuring America’s market for the accessory that can effectively turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns will remain open for the foreseeable future.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will seek unanimous consent to pass a bill banning bump stocks on the Senate floor on Tuesday, but a Republican senator is expected to object.

In 2017, a single shooter fired more than 1,000 rounds using a bump stock into a concert crowd in Las Vegas, killing 60 people and injuring 850 more. Former President Donald Trump’s administration banned bump stocks in the wake of the massacre, but the Supreme Court last week overturned the regulation. The conservative 6-3 majority on the court said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its authority, adding that the agency usurped power that belonged to Congress.

But Republicans made it clear this week that they had no intention of supporting congressional action.

“I think that we have to ask ourselves: What is the real gun violence problem in this country, and are we legislating in a way that solves fake problems? Or solves real problems?” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) told reporters Monday when asked about banning bump stocks.

Pressed about the high death toll in the Las Vegas shooting, Vance said, “The question is: How many people would have been shot alternatively?”

He added: “Will anyone actually not choose a bump stock because [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer passes a piece of legislation? Or you end up just inhibiting the rights of law-abiding Americans and actually do nothing to solve the gun violence problem to begin with.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), whose state has had