A central Illinois congressman, who was in the line of fire during a shooting this summer, is asking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to re-evaluate trigger modification devices before he would jump in to support any gun control legislation.
Following Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 59 dead and hundreds injured, some are pushing for stricter gun laws or even bans on trigger modification add-ons called bump stocks, similar to what the Las Vegas shooter reportedly used.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville – who was in the line of fire at baseball practice in Washington D.C. this summer when a gunman shot at lawmakers, injuring U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. – said his heart sank when he saw the news out of Las Vegas.
“But we can’t have a knee-jerk reaction,” Davis said. “Because, frankly, restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms has not helped many of our areas … with stricter gun controls than any of the rural areas that I represent. It’s not stopped them from having the highest murder rates in the nation.”
Davis said when shots rang out on the baseball field June 14, he didn’t think about what new laws should be passed.
“My initial thought was I wish I had my own to fire back,” Davis said.
Davis and several other congressmen, including Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, sent the ATF a letter requesting more information about bump stock trigger modifications.
“We cannot stop evil in its many forms, and we cannot gauge the level of hate in someone’s heart,” the letters said. “But we can come together to find commonsense ways in which to blunt the damage these evildoers are able to inflict upon other citizens while ensuring protection of individuals’ civil liberties and rights under our Constitution.”
“To be clear, those who believe that gun control or one law is going to put an end to mass shootings are, unfortunately, severely shortsighted,” Davis said.
The National Rifle Association also put out a statement saying it has requested the ATF “review whether these devices comply with federal law.“
“The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” the NRA statement said.
Meanwhile, Illinois state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, filed House Bill 4107 Thursday. Alongside being an assault weapons ban, the measure would also prohibit the sale of firearm add-ons that modify triggers.
Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson said such laws won’t stop evil.
“All these things that they’re proposing always attack the law-abiding gun owner,” Pearson said. “The bad guy doesn’t care. The bad guy could probably make a bump stock if he wanted to. [Gun control and bans] always affect the law-abiding gun owner. It doesn’t affect the problem. It just makes it tougher for law-abiding citizens to own firearms.”
“I don’t buy that at all,” Moylan said. “[The Las Vegas shooter] purchased bump stocks and other devices legally over the internet. Law-abiding citizens don’t need [an] AK-47 to go hunting or .50 caliber sniper rifles to go hunting or to have. Those types of weapons are used for mass destruction and they should be reserved for military or trained officials,” he said.
Moylan called his legislation common sense.
If the law passes, Moylan said bump stocks and various firearms the measure targets that are already possessed by the public would be grandfathered.
“We’re not going to confiscate any weapons,” Moylan said.
Moylan said he wants to pass the law as soon as possible and will bring it up during veto session which begins later this month.
[This story is courtesy of Illinois Radio Network News.]
