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Bump stocks

Anthony Adragna

Senate Republicans scuttled an attempt from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) to block sales of bump stocks, a firearm accessory allowing semi-automatic rifles to be fired like fully automatic machine guns, after Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) objected.

Democrats tried to pass the restrictions days after the Supreme Court blocked a Trump-era rule banning bump stocks. The gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre used the device in the shooting that killed 60 attendees of a music festival.

“My very strong suspicion is that the [Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer legislation is aimed at a PR problem — not something that's going to meaningfully reduce gun violence in this country,” said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a potential vice presidential nominee for former President Donald Trump. “Will anyone actually not choose a bump stock because Chuck Schumer passes a piece of legislation?”

"Bump stocks serve no legitimate purpose," said Heinrich on the floor. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), whose state saw that worst-ever mass shooting, blasted Vance's comments during a press conference Tuesday: "For us, the carnage created by bump stocks is very real, so shame on anyone who says it's a fake problem."