NRA open to regulation on bump stocks, gun modification to fire faster

In a surprising announcement since the Las Vegas shooting on Sunday night, the National Rifle Association says it is open to new regulations on a gun modifier.

The NRA says it is open to new regulations on bump stocks, devices that were on the weapons of the Las Vegas shooter. The modification can be used to fire rifles similar to automatic weapons, which means the gun could fire faster.

The Obama administration’s ATF approved selling the device in 2010 after concluding that it does not violate federal law. On Thursday, the NRA called on the ATF to review that assessment.

Bump stocks are legal and are intended to help people with limited hand mobility to fire a semi-automatic without individual trigger pulls. The applied pressure causes the weapon to fire continuously.

Retailers in Columbia don’t have bump stocks in their stores; most stores tell ABC 17 News they haven’t had them in years due to low customer interest. Slide Fire, which is a manufacturer of bump stocks, announced on its website it has suspended new orders. You can, however, find bump stocks on third-party websites.

Some local gun stores were open to the idea of new regulations, while others believe it will just open the door to even more regulations.

Larry Wayland, Modern Arms gun store owner, told ABC 17, “Killing people is illegal and killing people with a high rate of fire is illegal but the rate of fire doesn’t change the fact that criminal acts were performed.”

Wayland told us criminals will still find a way to break the law.

“That is not the answer to stopping something like this. I don’t know what the answer is as to what happened in Vegas,” Wayland said. “But making new statutes that law -abiding citizens have to follow doesn’t change criminal activity.”