Posted on 10/05/2017 4:57:59 PM PDT by Kaslin
There’s that scene in Star Wars Episode VI when the Rebel Alliance finds itself between the Death Star and the Imperial Fleet to which Admiral Ackbar shouts, “It’s a trap!” It’s a line used heavily in pop culture—and that’s all I can say to the Republican Party as they consider joining Democrats to ban “bump stocks.”
The device is used to increase the rate of fire of a semi-automatic weapon. It’s not the same as automatic—and no, it doesn’t convert a semiautomatic system into an automatic one. That falsehood surely made its rounds yesterday. At least some outlets were somewhat more accurate in their descriptions in that bump stocks mimic automatic fire, but I digress. It merely uses the recoil as a means to increase the rate of fire.
Twelve of the 23 firearms that Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock brought into his suite in the Mandalay Bay hotel had a bump stock. Paddock used his 32nd floor room as a vantage point to open fire on the 22,000 concertgoers who were attending the final night of the Route 91 Harvest music festival. He killed 58 people and wounded close to 500 more; police revised the number down to 489 people, 317 of which have been discharged from medical centers. Paddock killed himself before authorities breached his room.
Now, the GOP is considering partnering up with Democrats to ban bump stocks (via NYT):
For a generation, Republicans in Congress — often joined by conservative Democrats — have bottled up gun legislation, even as the carnage of mass shootings grew ever more gruesome and the weaponry ever more deadly. A decade ago, they blocked efforts to limit the size of magazines after the massacre at Virginia Tech. Five years later, Republican leaders thwarted bipartisan legislation to expand background checks of gun purchasers after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Last year, in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre, they blocked legislation to stop gun sales to buyers on terrorism watch lists.
But in this week’s massacre in Las Vegas, lawmakers in both parties may have found the part of the weapons trade that few could countenance: previously obscure gun conversion kits, called “bump stocks,” that turn semiautomatic weapons into weapons capable of firing in long, deadly bursts.
“I own a lot of guns, and as a hunter and sportsman, I think that’s our right as Americans, but I don’t understand the use of this bump stock,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said, adding, “It seems like it’s an obvious area we ought to explore and see if it’s something Congress needs to act on.”
[…]
Other Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, said they would be open to considering legislation on bump stocks.
“We certainly want to learn more details on what occurred in Las Vegas,” Mr. Rubio said, “and if there are vulnerabilities in federal law that we should be addressing to prevent such attacks in the future, we would always be open to that.”
In the House, Representative Carlos Curbelo, Republican of Florida, said he was drafting bipartisan legislation banning the conversion kits. Representative Mark Meadows, the head of the conservative Freedom Caucus, also said he would be open to considering a bill, while Representative Bill Flores, Republican of Texas, called for an outright ban.
“I think they should be banned,” Mr. Flores told the newspaper The Hill. “There’s no reason for a typical gun owner to own anything that converts a semiautomatic to something that behaves like an automatic.”
The Hill added that Democrats are pleading with President Trump to sit down with them on gun control:
Trump’s history has not been overlooked by the Democrats, who are already encouraged by a pair of recent agreements on government spending and immigration –– the first finalized, the second tentative –– between the president and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill.
Hoping to build on that bipartisan cooperation, a group of almost 100 House Democrats sent a letter to Trump Wednesday urging the president to join their effort to combat the gun-violence plague that was highlighted so tragically Sunday in Las Vegas.
Behind Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), head of the Democrats’ gun-violence prevention task force, the lawmakers are practically pleading with Trump to sit down with them in search of reforms that could break the barriers erected by GOP leaders in Congress.
“You have the power to make real change in America and protect our communities from the senseless gun violence like we saw in Las Vegas. Together, we can find common ground that respects and supports the 2nd Amendment while keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them –– criminals and the dangerously mentally ill,” the Democrats wrote.
“We are reaching out to you, please: join us in the fight to end gun violence."
We all know the drill here: you give a Democrat an inch and they take several hundred miles. Bump stocks are banned, but what about so-called high-capacity magazines? Why not military-looking rifles? Why not certain types of ammunition? Why not placing limits on how many guns you can buy? Why not a ban on firearms? This is the road we’re going to go down with these people. We all see their allies on the anti-gun Left; they want to end gun ownership. They want to gut the Second Amendment and put our Constitution through the shredder. Bump stocks are mainly used for recreational shooting and have been—until this incident—rarely used in gun crimes. Mass shootings are still rare and are not the majority of gun crimes in America. Not even close. Background checks wouldn’t have stopped Paddock either. There’s talk from the Left about the cumulative effect of anti-gun legislation having an impact on reducing gun violence. That’s pure crap and bad policy. It’s a fancy way of saying it won’t do anything, but we can score political points for having done something…with consequences that likely weren’t considered when pondering such shoddy gun legislation. FiveThirtyEight has concluded that focusing only on mass shootings is a bad compass on policy navigation. They’re right. The data crunching site has selected numerous, smaller scale, and more targeted ways of combating gun crime, but the Left won’t like it because it doesn’t chip away at gun rights.
There is no downside whatsoever to not passing, or even blocking, more redundant gun control laws. Working with Democrats on gun policy is a very dangerous game; Republicans should avoid working with them altogether on this issue. We all know what their end goal is and it’s not just expanded background checks.
Bump stocks are to guns like fart cans are to cars. They are stupid AF, but still not something that should be banned based on one attack.
8 months in, nothing for us
4 days in, plenty for the Democrats
It’s just dumbfounding how bad Ryan and McConnell are.
Are they also going to ban belt loops? Shooters were using belt loops before there was a Bumpfire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-03y3R9o6hA
Tie it together with the 20 week abortion limit and let Democrats vote against their sacred cow.
One thing that I have always adored about Free republic is the vast quantity of thoughtful and informed analysis and information about a multiplicity of subjects. I am EXTREMELY disappointed about much of the bumpfire stock controversy. Much of it sounds has though it was promulgated by the ignorant gun grabbing left.
I am a 2 tour Vietnam infantry combat veteran, and a member of the Illinois National guard for 26 years, to include service in Iraq and the first Gulf War. I was a certified Illinois State Police Firearms and Defensive tactics instructor, and a member of Special Reaction and SWAT teams. I have fired hundreds of thousands of rounds through automatic weapons of all types, belt fed and shoulder mounted, ranging from .45 caliber M-3 sub machine guns up to M2A1 40 mm twin anti-aircraft guns mounted on an M-42 self propelled anti-aircraft gun.
I am retired and spend one day a month on the rifle range shooting my AR-15 rifles. When this slide fire device was first introduced, the low cost and novelty intrigued me and I purchased one. It was a bit awkward to use at first, but in one afternoon, after a bit of practice I was able to get 90% of any length burst on a man sized target at 75 yards, which is close to the normal engagement ranges for truly effective full auto fire from shoulder mounted weapons. It is not as useful has a true selective fire assault rifle since it requires two hands to employ, but it DOES have some measure of limited tactical utility for anyone who practices with it. I never really considered this item to be a true tactical instrument, but I did appreciate the ingenuity and thought that went into turning “bump fire’ into almost as accurate a technique has I could use with a true select fire assault rifle.
The battle has been joined. The anti-gun hysterics are in full cry. They will never satisfied until they achieve near total firearm confiscation. The genie is out of the bottle. You cannot stop psychopaths employing bump fire methods unless you can repeal the laws of Newtonian physics. I realize that some sort of regulation will ensue in the wake of this horrific atrocity. But I don’t like it one damn bit.
If they do this, then they should compromise by repealing the 1986 Hughes Act which caused the prices of full auto weapons to skyrocket. There is NO REASON for a legally transferable M-16 to cost over 50,000 dollars. You can be assured that any such owner will be thoroughly vetted by the background check that would be required to purchase one.
“Bump stocks are to guns like fart cans are to cars”
I’m not a gun expert but shouldn’t it be easy to make an electrically powered gadget that would squeeze a trigger at whatever rate the shooter desired? Why bother with a touchy, bulky bump stock?
BAN 3D PRINTERS!
If he says that he would also say “There’s no reason for a typical gun owner to own a built-from-scratch full-automatic weapon.”
How about this for a reason? "Because I want to, and the government has no right to tell me I can't."
Congress can stay the hell out of it. Trump can simply order Sessions to have the ATF reverse its OBAMA ERA decision approving bump stocks. End of story.
McConnell and his RINOs are almost always supportibg leftist and statist agendas — against what most of us voted for. They’re a big part of the problem. We must must must replace them with better people asap!
I’m sure one could rig something up in his basement, using a small electric motor spinning a disk with a cam, which could make a semi auto fire at full auto rate. As the author notes, the real target is all semi auto rifles.
>>I’m not a gun expert but shouldn’t it be easy to make an electrically powered gadget that would squeeze a trigger at whatever rate the shooter desired?
And connect it by Bluetooth to a phone and create an app to set the rate and act as trigger!
Heck no. Put it together with an 8 week limit.
Better yet, put it together with a ban on Planned Parenthood funding.
On the one hand, taking life is so wrong. On the other, taking life is so right.
Let ‘em squirm over that dilema.
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Is that when the heart starts beating? I'm for conception onward, but when the heart starts beating is a good start. They'd be MORONS not to do it.
This stinks. It’s not winning that’s for sure. They need to stop screwing around with crap like “gun control” — and get back to work repealing Obamacare and lowering and simplifying taxes. And repatriating the Muslim invaders while we still can -
Either you support the 2nd Ammendment or you’re a gun grabber. You may believe only certain guns that have a stupid bump stock should be grabbed, but you’re still a gun grabber.
Do not let Congress and the ATF rewrite the definition of a machinegun to include bump stocks in the (unconstitutional) NFA. I guarantee you, once they do it, other items will follow - like magazines over 10 rounds or detachable magazine altogether. They will argue that those items allow the gun to shoot faster than should be allowed under common sense gun laws. And since they did it with bump stocks, legal precedence allows them to add magazines, drums, pistol grips, muzzle devices, bipods, etc. to the NFA registry.
And for those who don’t shoot much, you don’t need a bump fire stock to fire quickly. You can bump fire with a rubber band or even with an open palm with practice. A ban won’t do anything.
YouTube take this down? I can’t get to it...
Hey, these preemptive surrenders by the GOP have always worked before, haven’t they? What could go wrong?
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