Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester (DE-AL) announced her co-sponsorship of H.R. 3947, the Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act. The bill, sponsored by Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01), bans the manufacture, transfer, sale, or importation of bump stocks like the ones used in last Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.

“This moment demands action and accountability. We have a responsibility to the victims, their families, and to the American people to do our jobs and prevent mass shootings like this from ever happening again,” said Congresswoman Blunt Rochester. “No American should live in fear that if they go to school, get on a bus, go to a church or a concert venue that they will be put in to harm’s way by weapons of destruction. Bump stocks only serve one purpose – to fire as many bullets as possible, as quickly as possible. Guns with these dangerous modifications have no place on our streets or in the hands of those that wish to do us harm. That’s why I am proud to join my colleagues in fighting to make our communities safer.”

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.

This week, 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 regulated by the federal government, and several states 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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