Fox45:
Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) – The Buckeye Firearms Association has come out against a potential ban of bump stock devices that investigators in Las Vegas say Stephen Paddock used to modify the semi-automatic rifles to fire rapidly into the crowd.
The device fell under scrutiny after videos of the mass shooting started a debate about the rapid gunfire heard.
An association spokesperson said because they don’t change the actual functionality of the gun, they should not be banned.
“With a bump stock or a slide fire you hold your finger still and you move the rifle back and forth to fire it,” said Joe Eaton, region leader for the Buckeye Firearms Association. “So it really is the same thing each press of the trigger results in one bullet being fired, does not change any of the mechanics.”
The announced stance from Buckeye Firearms came one day after the National Rifle Association (NRA) said bump stocks should be “subject to additional regulations,” after lawmakers proposed a ban of the device.
“Since they don’t change the function of the firearm it is still a semi-automatic, one bullet with one press of the trigger, there would be no reason to have them outlawed,” Eaton said.
Semi-automatic weapons are legal to sell and buy.
Eaton said while the bump stock changes the action it takes to fire a bullet, it remains a semi-automatic weapon.
“I guess the only advantage I could see is by moving your finger a bunch of times it could get fatigued after a while, where the bump fire stock would eliminate that fatigue,” Eaton said.
Eaton also said he doesn’t think a bump stock ban wouldprevent a similar attack.
“The fact that this time he chose a semi-automatic rifle and he happened to choose another accessory for it again, unfortunately is just more noise in the talk about what needs to be the talk in why is there this much violence out there,” Eaton said.
Good for Buckeye Firearms Association. I agree that this introduced more noise, and it’s not noise that we need to coddle by stipulating agreement with it. The NRA chose poorly.
As I’ve also said, “I cannot be convinced that the shooter who landed all of this crap in our lap would have been less effective if he had aimed and fired in a controlled manner than with the bump fire stock, if in fact such a device was used.”
