Bump Stock Legislation

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it should never take a tragedy of a mass shooting for the Senate to pass commonsense gun safety legislation.

Thankfully, today, we have a chance to make our community safer if Republicans don't stand in the way.

This afternoon, my colleague Senator Heinrich will come to the floor and seek passage of a Federal ban on bump stocks. I applaud this effort. I applaud his bill. I am proud to support and speak on behalf of it.

We must act because a few days ago, the MAGA Supreme Court struck once again saying the Federal Government has no power to ban the sale of bump stocks.

The MAGA Court's decision is an utter disgrace that will endanger our communities, endanger law enforcement, and make it easier for mass shooters to unleash carnage.

Last week's decision is another warning sign that this MAGA Court is going off the deep end, aligning with the most extreme elements of the hard right.

Bump stocks are truly dangerous devices. They allow people to use rifles essentially as machine guns, which the national Firearms Act banned in the 1930s. Even Donald Trump banned bump stocks shortly after the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, when a shooter in Vegas used bump stocks to fire over 1,000 rounds in 10 minutes. And we know the tragic results of 60 people dead and hundreds and hundreds injured. Donald Trump is no friend of gun safety, but there was such huge pressure after we saw the carnage that bump stocks created that even he introduced a resolution to ban them.

What today's bill does is return things to the status quo set by Donald Trump, saying bump stocks are dangerous and should be prohibited. Senate Republicans, by and large, supported Trump's ban on bump stocks back then, so they should support this bill today.

But, sadly, some of our colleagues on the other side are making it clear they will ignore the immense worry most Americans have about gun violence, and they will block today's bill.

Some on the other side say this bill is political theater; that it does nothing; that it is a stunt. Go tell the families of those who lost loved ones that this is a stunt. Go tell the many who have recovered from injuries that this is a stunt.

Are my Republican colleagues serious? Do they really think banning bump stocks is some kind of stunt? Again, they should tell that to the people of Nevada who have dead relatives because of bump stocks.

Whenever Republicans use the cliche ``show vote'' argument, that is their way of saying they don't want to engage the issue on the merits.

Remember what happened 2 years ago on the Senate floor: Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass bipartisan gun safety legislation-- something almost nobody thought possible. I am very proud that both sides persevered because we passed that bill, and it has done a lot of good for this country already.

Today, we have a chance to add to the success of 2 years ago by passing a simple measure that restores the Trump-era prohibition on bump stocks.

I implore--I implore--my Republican colleagues not to stand in the way of today's bill because if we can pass it today, we will be one step closer to ensuring that a tragedy like what happened in Las Vegas never happens again. But if Republicans get in the way today, if they decide to side with the gun lobby instead of parents and teachers and law enforcement, they are asking for another tragedy to strike sooner or later.

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