President Trump Favors Bump Stock Ban

President Donald Trump told Attorney General Jeff Sessions to propose regulations that would make bump stock devices illegal, he said on Tuesday. Trump said discussions about the legality of bump stocks - which were believed to be used in October's deadly shooting on the Las Vegas Strip - began in December. Today he signed a memorandum urging Sessions to ban them.

"After the deadly shooting in Las Vegas, I directed the Attorney General to clarify whether certain bump stock devices, like the one used in Las Vegas, are illegal under current law," Trump said. "That process began in December, and 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."

A bump stock is an attachment that allows a semi-automatic weapon to fire at the rate of an automatic weapon. Bump stocks were found attached to 13 rifles found inside the 32nd floor Mandalay Bay suite where a gunman opened fire on a country music festival, killing 58 people in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, according to law enforcement's preliminary investigative report.

Search warrant documents show the gunman's affinity for the device. He wrote, "for a thrill try out bumpfire ar's with a 100 round magazine," to another person in July 2017, months before the shooting.

Since the shooting in Las Vegas, 26 people were killed in a shooting inside of a church in Sutherland Springs, TX, and 17 people were killed in a shooting at a high school in Parkland, FL. Last week's massacre at the South Florida high school once again brought the discussion to the forefront of national discourse.

Trump's directive urged the Justice Department to take action banning bump stocks immediately.

"I expect that these critical regulations will be finalized, Jeff, very soon. The key in all of these efforts, as I said in my remarks the day after the shooting, is that we cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference, we must actually make a difference," Trump said.

Image via Evan Vucci/Associated Press