Justice Department Moves To Ban Device Used In Las Vegas Shooting

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday a proposal to ban bump stock devices, such as those used to kill 58 people in the Oct. 1 shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. The move comes following President Donald Trump's Feb. 20 memo ordering the Department of Justice to take action to make the devices illegal.

"After the senseless attack in Las Vegas, this proposed rule is a critical step in our effort to reduce the threat of gun violence that is in keeping with the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress," Sessions said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the President’s School Safety Commission to identify other ways to keep our country and our children safe, and I thank the President for his courageous leadership on this issue.”

The proposal would classify bump stocks as "machineguns," - defined by the Gun Control Act of 1968 to be "any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger." Federal law prohibits the sale or possession of any "machinegun," unless the gun was registered before May 19, 1986.

If enacted, those who currently own bump stocks would be required to turn them in, destroy them, or "otherwise render them permanently inoperable," immediately.

The move, the Justice Department said, will improve public safety. Sessions said the Oct. 1 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival made bump stocks more visible to individuals who might be plotting a similar attack.

"The shooting in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 highlighted the destructive capacity of firearms equipped with bump-stock-devices and the carnage they can inflict. The shooting also made many individuals aware that these devices exist - potentially including persons with criminal or terrorist intentions - and made their potential to threaten public safety obvious. The proposed regulations aim to ameliorate that threat," the proposal says.

The Justice Department is opening the proposal up to public comment. To submit a public comment, visit www.regulations.gov and follow directions to submit written comment. Written comments can also be faxed to (202) 648-9741. Written comments can be mailed to the following address:

Vivian Chu
Mailstop 6N-518, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
99 New York Ave. NE, Washington D.C. 20226
ATTN: 2017R-22

Click here to read the entire proposal from Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Image via Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Oct. 1 shooting preliminary investigative report