Trump to take steps to ban bump stocks

Story by The Hill
Written by Brandon Carter and Lydia Wheeler

President Trump said Tuesday he has directed the Department of Justice to propose regulations that would ban bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic guns to be modified to shoot hundreds of rounds per minute.

“We can do more to protect our children. We must do more to protect our children,” Trump said during the announcement at the White House.

Trump's decision comes days after 17 people were killed in a school shooting in Florida. The killings have increased pressure on Trump and lawmakers in Congress to do something about the epidemic of mass shootings in the United States.

Bump stocks came to the forefront of the gun control debate after the deadly mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival in October that left nearly 60 dead and more than 500 injured. The gunman in that incident allegedly used a bump stock device while firing rounds on the crowd of concert-goers from a hotel room above them.

It does not appear that a bump stock device was used in the Florida shooting, nor does it appear a prohibition on the devices would have stopped that shooter.

Still, Trump's remarks illustrate a desire on the part of the White House to show action on the issue of guns.
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Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/374722-trump-to-take-steps-to-ban-bump-stocks?userid=260620