Trump pushes for ban on gun 'bump stocks'
US President Donald Trump has signed
an order to ban bump-stock devices, which were used by a gunman who
killed 58 Las Vegas concert-goers last year.
Such devices enable a rifle to shoot hundreds of rounds a minute.
Speaking
at the White House, Mr Trump said he had directed the justice
department to propose a law to make the accessories illegal.
The gun control debate took on a new urgency after 17 people were killed at a school in Florida last week.
Students and parents affected by the massacre at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School are planning a demonstration in the state capital of
Tallahassee on Wednesday.
Some of them arrived on Tuesday in time
to see the state legislature reject a proposed ban on assault weapons
and large capacity magazines. However it will consider a package of more
limited gun restrictions.
What did Trump say?
At an event
on Tuesday recognising the bravery of law enforcement, Mr Trump said he
had directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to finalise new guidelines
to declare bump stocks illegal "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," he said.
"We
must move past clichés and tired debates, and focus on evidence-based
solutions and security measures that actually work and that make it
easier for men and women of law enforcement to protect our children and
protect our safety."
What are bump stocks?
The accessories can make semi-automatic rifles fire as rapidly as machine guns.
They can be bought for as little as $100 (£70) without the need for a criminal background check.
The
device was used by Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old gambler, who rained
bullets on the crowd at an outdoor country music festival on the Las
Vegas Strip in October.
More than 500 people were also injured in that attack, considered America's worst ever mass-shooting by a lone gunman.
Audio
analysis found Paddock had been able to fire 90 bullets within 10
seconds from his room in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Didn't Congress plan to ban the devices?
Both
Democrats and Republicans agreed in the nationwide wave of horror
following the Las Vegas attack that the sale of bump stocks should be
outlawed.
However, a bill introduced to ban bump stocks, trigger cranks and
other devices that can speed up a semi-automatic rifle's rate of fire
has since stalled.
In December, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives began considering a regulation for bump stocks,
opening a process that drew more than 35,000 public comments.
Proposals
to ban bump stocks have been put forward with mixed results at state
level, including in South Carolina, Illinois, Washington and Colorado.
Previous
efforts to introduce gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings
in recent years have gone nowhere in the US Congress.
Might Trump consider any other gun control?
On
Tuesday, the White House signalled it was open to an age limit for
people buying AR-15-type assault rifles, like the one used in the
Florida shooting.
"I think that's certainly something that's on
the table for us to discuss and that we expect to come up over the next
couple of weeks," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, when asked
about a possible age requirement. The age limit in most US states for
buying an AR-15 is 18.
Over the weekend, Mr Trump said he was supportive of a bipartisan bill that seeks to improve the checks in place before someone can buy a gun.
Whether we are Republican or Democrat, we must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018
That legislation intends to patch holes in the FBI's background check
System, which processed more than 25 million gun ownership applications
last year.
Failures in that database were exposed by the Florida
shooting, allegedly committed by a 19-year-old gunman with a history of
mental health issues. Bump stocks were not used in that attack.
BBC
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