Trump Administration Bans Bump Stock Devices Like Those Used in Las Vegas Mass Shooting
The Trump Administration announced a new federal regulation on Tuesday (Dec. 18) that will ban the "bump stock" gun attachments that were used in October of 2017 in a mass shooting that killed 58 people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
President Trump announced on Tuesday that a new regulation is set to go into effect that will give owners of the devices 90 days to either turn in or destroy their bump stocks, according to the New York Times. NPR reports that the new mandate will also block gun owners from being able to register bump stock accessories after the new regulation takes effect when it is published in the Federal Register, which is likely to happen on Friday (Dec. 21).
Bump stocks are a specialized attachment that allows semi-automatic weapons to fire more rounds at a higher rate of speed like that of an automatic weapon. A lone gunman opened fire into the crowd at the Route 91 festival during Jason Aldean's headlining set on the third and final night of the country music festival using semi-automatic rifles fitted with bump stock devices, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
President Trump signaled that he was interested in pursuing a ban just two months after the Vegas shootings, saying, "Just a few moments ago I signed a memo directing the attorney general to propose regulations that ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns," on Feb. 20, 2018 (via CNN).
CNN also reported that Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time that Trump might not be opposed to raising the federal age to purchase military-grade weapons like the AR-15 Nikolas Cruz used to kill 17 at a Parkland, Fla., school in February of 2018.
Never Forget the 58 Victims of the Route 91 Shooting: