Kihuen, Rosen Help Introduce Rep. Cicilline's Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act

Press Release

Today, Congressman Ruben J. Kihuen (NV-04) and Congresswoman Jacky Rosen (NV-03), joined Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-1) in introducing legislation to ban the manufacture, possession, transfer, sale, or importation of bump stocks like the one used to murder 59 innocent men and women earlier this week in Las Vegas:

"The victims of the heinous attack in Las Vegas deserve more than rhetoric from Congress - they deserve action," said Kihuen. "I am pleased to join my colleagues, Rep. Cicilline and Rep. Rosen, in introducing the Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act that would prohibit the sale, possession, or manufacture of bump stocks like those used by the Las Vegas shooter. It is chilling to think how many more individuals could be alive today had these weapons not been modified to fire as rapidly as an automatic weapon. Mass shootings have become an all too often occurrence in America, and we cannot become desensitized to this violence. We owe it to the people of this country, and the countless victims of these shootings, to enact reasonable policies to reduce gun violence."

"It is sickening that a dangerous device like this is being sold commercially to increase the carnage of gun violence," said Rosen. "There should be bipartisan support for this type of common sense solution. We must stand together to take meaningful action, so that more families don't have to experience the grief and suffering that my constituents are going through right now."

"I'm proud to be working on this bill with so many colleagues, especially Dina Titus, Jacky Rosen, and Ruben Kihuen. No person should possess a device that turns a semi-automatic rifle into the equivalent of a machine gun," said Cicilline, who serves as Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. "The sole purpose of these devices is to fire as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible. I'm introducing this bill today because we cannot become a country where the carnage in Las Vegas becomes the new normal."

BACKGROUND: The Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act prohibits the sale of bump stocks, which were developed within the past decade to modify semi-automatic rifles. When replacing the fixed stock on a rifle, a bump stock allows the shooter to fire at a rate of 400 to 800 rounds per minute, replicating the rate of fire of a fully automatic weapon (or "machine gun") that propels multiple bullets with a single trigger pull.

Last night, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed that the Las Vegas shooter had 12 bump stocks attached to rifles in his hotel room. Audio from the attack indicates he was able to fire his weapons at a rate of 9 bullets per second during an attack that lasted 9 to 11 minutes.

Fully automatic firearms are highly-regulated, requiring an extensive FBI background check and approval from the buyer's local police department. Several states, including California, New York, and Rhode Island, have generally prohibited the possession of fully automatic firearms. The sale of bump stocks, however, was approved by the U.S. Government in 2010.

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