On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that he has ordered the Department of Justice to propose regulations that would see bump stocks to be banned in the country. Bump stocks are the devices that enable a semi-automatic gun to shoot hundreds of rounds per minute through modification.
During the announcement at the White House, the President stated, “We can do more to protect our children. We must do more to protect our children.”
The decision comes right after a mass shooting incident happened at a high school in Florida, in which 17 people were killed. The incident has had Trump under serious pressure to introduce laws and regulations that resolves epidemic of mass shootings in the United States.
According to the reports, it is believed that the shooter did not make use of a bump stock device in the mass shooting incident in Florida. In addition, no prohibition on the devices could be found, which would have stopped that shooter.
When the Las Vegas shooting incident took place, the President directed Jeff Sessions who is the Attorney General, to elucidate if certain bump stock devices are illegal under the current law or not.
President Trump said on Tuesday, “That process began in December and just a few moments ago I signed a memorandum directing the Attorney General to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns.”
“I expect that these critical regulations will be finalized, Jeff, very soon,” he added.
Sarah Huckabee Sander, who is the White House press secretary, told reporters that President Trump is not supportive of bump stock devices and the White House will make further announcements regarding it, in the coming days.
She stated, “He ordered the Department of Justice and the ATF to review the regulation of bump stocks. My understanding is that review has been completed and movement will take place on that shortly. But the president, when it comes to that, is committed to ensuring those devices … The president doesn’t support the use of those accessories.”
The White House released a memo on Tuesday, to Sessions, in which President Trump directed the Department of Justice to “dedicate all available resources to complete the review of the comments received, and, as expeditiously as possible, to propose for notice and comment a rule banning all devices that turn legal weapons into machineguns.”
Trump writes, “Although I desire swift and decisive action, I remain committed to the rule of law and to the procedures the law prescribes.”
“Doing this the right way will ensure that the resulting regulation is workable and effective and leaves no loopholes for criminals to exploit. I would ask that you keep me regularly apprised of your progress,” he continued.
In other news, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) believes that the move made by Trump is a vital step to protect the citizens.
“Sign after sign this week that we’ve hit a fulcrum point in this debate where politicians are, for the first time, scared on the political consequences of inaction on guns. Small, but vital step in the history of our movement,” he posted on Twitter.
Sign after sign this week that we’ve hit a fulcrum point in this debate where politicians are, for the first time, scared on the political consequences of inaction on guns. Small, but vital step in the history of our movement. — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT)