WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats tried to pass legislation Tuesday that would ban it spare stocks for firearms After the Supreme Court overturned an earlier ban, only a single Republican objected, effectively halting the bill.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, asked for “unanimous consent” for its passage. BUMP Act It would ban devices that modify semi-automatic weapons to fire bullets more quickly.
The New Mexico senator said he owns a firearm and sees no other purpose than to facilitate mass shootings. in Las Vegas in 2017At the music festival, a gunman killed dozens of people and injured more than 500 people.
“The Las Vegas gunman was able to kill so quickly and injure so many people because he used a lethal device known as a stun gun,” Heinrich said on the Senate floor. “There is no legitimate use for mutual stock. Not for self-defense, not in a law enforcement context, not even in military applications because they are less accurate than a standard fully automatic military platform. But what they specially prepare is a mass shooting.”
But the bill was passed by Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb. was met with protest by and prevented his progress. The protest was supported by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and many other Republican senators, marking a U-turn after many of them defended the stock market ban imposed by the Trump administration in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre.
Ricketts called the bill “a gun grab,” saying the bill is vaguely worded and could give the Biden administration the authority to target “common firearm accessories, not just bump stocks.” measure violations of the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
He called it “another day of show votes in the summer of Democrats” after the latest defense vote. IVF and contraception It was also blocked by Republicans.
The showdown comes at the height of an election year, with Republicans competing as staunch supporters of gun rights and President Joe Biden and Democrats calling for stricter gun laws.
Tuesday’s action a The decision of the Supreme Court The executive branch’s 6-3 ruling along ideological lines last week kept the door open to regulating the accessories under the new law, but said the executive branch could not use the existing law.
Unanimous consent is one mechanism for the Senate to pass legislation quickly and is often used for non-controversial measures. Schumer could also move the stock market bill or other legislation through the regular process, which takes longer and requires 60 votes to break a filibuster. This means that if Democrats and independents stay together, at least 9 Republicans will have to support it.
Before requiring unanimous consent, Schumer did not say whether he would raise the bill through normal channels if it stalled, urging Republicans to “see the light” and not block it.
“When President Trump did it as a regulation, a lot of them were extremely supportive of it,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump is no friend of gun safety. But I was shocked that the Supreme Court would even be on his right side.”
Heinrich warned that unless Congress bans bump stocks, “street gangs, cartels and mass shooters” could access these devices and turn them against our communities.
He added: “This won’t be the last time you hear about these devices on the Senate floor.”
Kate Santaliz contributed.