By Beverly Wakiaga
In the week since the Las Vegas shooting, a lot has been said but it seems that little has been done.
The shooting is marked as America’s deadliest mass shooting in history, with 58 killed and 489 injured. There have been many condolences, and yet another push for gun control legislation.
Photo by Ariana Spinogatti
Last Wednesday, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that would close a loophole which allows semi-automatic weapons to be remodified to shoot like automatic weapons using bump stocks. The National Rifle Association is in support of a look into bump stocks – not within Congress, but through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. According to Reuters, the NRA is open to regulation but not to an outright ban. Many lawmakers, such as Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, see this as a small step towards tighter policies on guns.
“I think we have reached a tipping point in this country after Las Vegas. People are so outraged that even the opponents are saying they will support the ban on the bump stock device,” Blumenthal said after a recent talk at Quinnipiac. “It’s a very, very small step, but it shows that the NRA is cracking and congress is tracking.”
Photo by Ariana Spinogatti
So far, there has been Republican interest on working on a bill, but no one has supported the bill created by Feinstein. According to The Guardian, Senators Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy are working on reintroducing past bills that expand the national gun background check system and stop licensed dealers from selling a weapon if the FBI does not complete a background check on the buyer within three business days.
Blumenthal is optimistic that there can be some action after the past week.
“Even though it’s only a small step, as well as background checks for all around safety and an end to the legal unity that the manufacturers enjoy under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, we are hopeful that we can move this debate in action.”