Senate Democrats Draft Gun Control Proposals After Las Vegas

In the wake of the shooting in Las Vegas many have called for Congress to take action on gun control, and two Senate Democrats have announced that they’ll introduce new legislation to help shape the coming debate.

The first bill from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) will be called the Automatic Gun Fire Prevention Act when it’s formally introduced. It would ban the sale, manufacture, or transfer so-called "bump stocks" that can be used to modify semi-automatic rifles.

Ordinarily, semi-automatic rifles have a rate of fire that’s less than 60 rounds per minute, but with a bump stock the rate of fire can increase to hundreds of rounds in that timeframe. Feinstein said the modification can only serve destructive purposes:

"The only reason to fire so many rounds so fast is to kill large numbers of people. No one should be able to easily and cheaply modify legal weapons into what are essentially machine guns.”

The Las Vegas shooter modified several of the rifles he used to kill 59 people and injure another 527 with bump stocks. Critics say of efforts to ban bump stocks say that those who want to will still be able to use homemade modifications to achieve the same effect.

The second bill will come from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and is expected to focus on expanding background checks on would-be gun purchasers. Last year he and other Democrats pushed for legislation requiring background checks for nearly all sales or transfers of guns, but it and a Republican alternative were both rejected.

We’ll have more on these bills once they’re formally introduced, but in the meantime tell your reps what you think using the Take Action button and add your thoughts to the conversation in the comments below.

Take Action

— Eric Revell

RELATED READING

Deadliest Mass Shooting in U.S. History: 59 Dead, 527 Injured

U.S. Leaders Respond to Las Vegas Tragedy - What’s Your Response?

Was the Las Vegas Shooting Terrorism?

(Photo Credit: singha103 / iStock)