A week ahead of a Senate hearing on bump stocks, the Las Vegas district attorney issued a powerful call to ban the firearm accessory, which enabled a gunman to kill 58 people in minutes at an Oct. 1 concert. The renewed spotlight on the issue provides some much needed momentum for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)’s legislation to ban the device, reports McClatchy Newspapers. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Dec. 6 on the regulation of firearm accessories like bump stocks as well as issues with the federal background checks database that dealers use to determine whether someone is allowed to purchase a gun. On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee advanced legislation to expand Americans’ ability to carry concealed weapons, over the noisy objections of Democrats and other gun control advocates. The committee also approved a bipartisan bill to update the federal background checks database.
Clark County, Nv., District Attorney Steve Wolfson appeared with Feinstein and dozens of law enforcement officials on Capitol Hill to protest House Republicans’ decision to move forward with the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. The bill would allow people with a concealed carry permit in one state to carry a concealed weapon when they travel to other states, regardless of the local laws there. The deadly Las Vegas shooting brought to light the use of bump stocks, which allow a semi-automatic rifle to mimic fully automatic ones. Critics say that the device disregards current federal restrictions on automatic guns. Bump stocks “should be wiped off the face of the earth,” said Wolfson. “Doing nothing is unacceptable.”