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Politics

Carlos Curbelo to Push Bipartisan Ban on Bump Stocks

October 5, 2017 - 1:15pm
Carlos Curbelo
Carlos Curbelo

A Florida congressional Republican is leading the charge on a bill to ban “bump stocks” in the wake of a Las Vegas shooting which left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. 

U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Miami, plans to introduce legislation within the next day or two to ban bump stocks, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced a bill in the Senate Wednesday to ban bump stocks and similar devices, and it’s likely her bill and Curbelo’s will gather bipartisan support in the coming weeks.

Curbelo will cosponsor the bill with Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told MSNBC Thursday he would support looking into bump stocks, attachments which allow semi-automatic rifles to fire at high-speed, automatic rates.

Police said Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock -- who once resided in Florida -- outfitted 12 of his firearms with bump stocks as he fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition into the crowd of 22,000 people late Sunday evening.

Speaker Ryan said the shooting made him aware of the attachments and he signaled he was seriously considering looking into the accessories -- a step towards gun control in a Republican-controlled House which has previously been adamant against gun restrictions in the past. 

"Look, I didn't even know what they were until this week, and I'm an avid sportsman," Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said Thursday. "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 semiautomatic and turn it into a fully automatic so clearly that's something we need to look into."

Florida Republicans said they would be onboard with restricting bump stocks -- U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, both said they would support Curbelo’s bill.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, spoke on the proposal Thursday, saying he, too, would be in favor of the bill. 

“Bump stocks generating automatic rates of fire should face the same restrictions as automatic weapons,” Buchanan tweeted Thursday

Curbelo, a centrist, is likely to gather more support in the coming days -- he’s popular in the Republican caucus and Moulton’s support will help him claim middle ground in the fight to pass the bill. 

Owning a machine gun is, in many cases, against the law -- any machine gun made or imported after 1986 can only legally be owned by a licensed dealer, police or military.

Full text of the bill is forthcoming.

 

Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen


READ MORE FROM SUNSHINE STATE NEWS

Post-Las Vegas Massacre, Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Renew Calls for Gun Control

Las Vegas Shooter Lived in Florida, Records Show

Comments

"Bump politicians" should be banned too (you know: pandering, pettifoggers whose mouths "automatically go off" whenever they are in proximity to a news camera or microphone, they are deadly and cause grief, sorrow and misconception, at "trigger speed" during EVERY tragedy and "news brief"... TERM LIMITS/FLUSH THEM OUT/REPLACE THEM AT EVERY ELECTION ! ! !

First, IF he was on any prescribed medication, there's no way his doctor could ever discuss it with anyone, unless the patient displayed an aggressive and negative attitude towards the life of others. Yes, I too am fed up with all the wrongs in this country.What has happened to convince people to disrespect lives. Frankly, ALL lives matter

I cannot believe that the idiots who talk about making the "Bump Stock" illegal are out of their minds. With LOTS of 3-D Printers and the "3-D Codes" already on the Dark Web, ANYBODY with a few thousand bucks can make them FOREVER! Most people don't realize that the "Material" used to do this printing can be made from almost ANYTHING (and is readily available) - Steel, plastic, and even MUD (yes, I seen a Youtube that PRINTED a Mud House)! Any of the folks who talk about making them "Illegal" don't know jack about technology... Like · Reply · 1 · 12 mins

All banning does is create awareness that spurs sales and a cottage industry for these devices on the black market. Tougher guns laws just do not work. Chicago, DC and New York City have some of the toughest gun laws on the books. Yet shootings and homicides proliferate there. And even if you could ban guns, violence would simply migrate to knives, clubs or MS-13's preferred weapon of carnage, the hardware store machete. More difficult to ban those weapons of choice. But it is not so much the instrument itself as it is the sick mind that wields it. If politicians wanted to really get serious, then make laws that work. This Paddock guy was on medication for a emotional coping problem.. Let's sue/imprison his Doctor for not alerting authorities he was not of sound mind. Maybe we could have confiscated his weapons before he could hatch his nefarious plot. But if we do not hold medical profession accountable as a first line of defense, we will see more unstable minds slaughtering more innocent citizens. Wait and see. Simply put, we are what we tolerate. I'm fed up, are you?

How about we hold the shooter and ONLY the shooter responsible?

Nah, Let's BLAME THE GUN, and send IT to prison, where it just might be the solution to overcrowded prisons... (There you go: another 'problem solved!').....you're welcome! NEXT?..

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