White House, Paul Ryan and NRA Agree: Congress Needs to Look at "Bump Stocks"

Speaker of the House and the highest ranking Republican lawmaker Paul Ryan declared during a radio interview today that Congress will need to have a look at "bump stocks", the device used by Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock to turn convert semi-automatic rifles into fully automated weapons.

Though many democrat commentators and members of the mainstream media will act out their surprise over the coming days and hours at the willingness of a growing group of Republicans to have a look at this issue, it is altogether not that surprising.

Mr Paddock used the bump stock device during his Las Vegas massacre in order to spray gunfire into the crowd below him more quickly, exposing what some Republican lawmakers have admittedly addressed as a possible loophole in gun laws.

Wisconsin Republican Mr Ryan stated: "I didn't even know what they were until this week, and I'm an avid sportsman, so I think we're quickly coming up to speed with what this is. Fully automatic weapons have been banned for a long time. Apparently this allows you to take a semi-automatic and turn it into a fully automatic so clearly that's something that we need to look into."

And in a surprise move, the National Rifle Association showed some leeway in actually agreeing with Mr Ryan on this today, as they released a statement meeting him halfway. The NRA said that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be wise to revisit the issue of bump stocks and “immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law. The N.R.A. believes that devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.”

Furthermore, approval from the White House seems not to be too far off. Nevada Republican Mr Mark Amodel declared that the topic had already been discussed with President Trump and that he seemed open to looking into the issue.

Source:

http://www.wral.com/some-in-gop-open-to-banning-gun-accessory-used-in-vegas/16995375/