Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) said the federal government should do more to prevent mass shootings. He wants to ban a device called a bump stock.
Bump stocks allow a semiautomatic rifle to fire as fast as an automatic rifle. The devices are considered legal because they don’t turn a firearm into an automatic, it just allows it to fire bullets faster.
The Las Vegas shooter used bump stocks to modify his semi automatic weapons. At least 12 firearms of the 23 guns found in the shooter’s hotel room had bump stocks. He attacked concertgoers last Sunday, killing 58 and wounding hundreds more.
Carper said he comes from a family of gun owners. But common sense should prevail. “You don’t need that to kill a deer," he said. "You don’t need that to shoot a bear or a rabbit or a squirrel. That’s overkill to the nth degree.”
Carper also said that no one should amass the amount of weapons the gunman did without tipping off authorities. Investigators have said he bought 33 guns in the past year.
“We’ve got to be more aware of the folks around us," he said. "We see somebody stockpiling dozens of weapons and boxes and boxes of ammunition… We have an old saying in the Department of Homeland Security, if you see something, say something.”
The National Rifle Association has called for a review of bump stocks. But it has opposed banning certain assault weapons.
Gun control advocates are calling for expanding background checks and closing gun show loopholes. But the issue has become politically partisan.
