Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reemphasized her call for more gun laws and suggested new regulations would not be a suitable substitute for legislative action.
Feinstein first posited these things during an October 8 appearance on Face the Nation, where she admitted that no law would have prevented the Las Vegas attacker from striking, then immediately said “we need a law” against bump stocks. She specifically said “regulations aren’t going to do it” and stressed that Congressional action is necessary.
According to the Sierra Sun Times, Feinstein reiterated this position Tuesday by criticizing the regulatory approach contained in Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s (R-PA) gun control bill. His bill would change the language of National Firearms Act (1934) so as to allow the ATF to treat bump stocks like machine guns, forcing bump stock purchasers to undergo a background check, be fingerprinted, pay a $200 federal tax, and fulfill all the other steps currently required to buy a machine gun.
Feinstein rejects this approach, noting that a background check requirement would not have kept the Vegas attacker from getting a bump stock because he passed background checks to acquire his guns in the first place.
She said:
A bill was introduced in the House today to regulate bump-fire stocks. This bill would do nothing to close the loophole that allows semi-automatic weapons to be converted to machine guns. I refuse to support any bill that doesn’t ban these deadly devices—just as machine guns are banned. Here’s why regulation won’t work: All signs point to the Las Vegas shooter having legally purchased his weapons. That means he could have also legally purchased bump-fire stocks under this bill. So this bill would do nothing to prevent the same massacre from happening in the future.
The bottom line is that Feinstein is running a full court press for more gun control. And she is doing this even though Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been “urging” his Democrat colleagues to drop the gun control push until after the 2018 midterm elections. Schumer worries that Democrats will lose in 2018 if they are too closely identified with any push for new gun laws.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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