Bump stock devices were relatively obscure to the American public, right up until 2017, when a gunman in Las Vegas was able to use a bump stock to kill several dozen people and injure several hundred more in one of the worst mass shootings in our history. The public quickly came to realize that bump stocks are an after-market accessory gun owners can attach to semi-automatic rifles to make them fire faster.
The Trump administration acted unilaterally to ban the devices in the aftermath of the Las Vegas slayings, but Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices struck down that policy last week. The New York Times’ David Firestone described the ruling as “one of the most astonishingly dangerous decisions ever issued by the court, and it will almost surely result in a loss of American lives in another mass shooting.” Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern added that Justice Clarence Thomas’ ruling was “indefensible“ on the merits.
The high court’s decision, however, left the door open to congressional action. In fact, lawmakers had — and still have — the option of simply recreating the Trump administration’s ban and codifying it in federal law.
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico tried to do exactly that today. Politico reported:
Senate Republicans scuttled an attempt from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) to block sales of bump stocks, a firearm accessory allowing semi-automatic rifles to be fired like fully automatic machine guns, after Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) objected.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters earlier that his caucus would not allow the legislation to advance, and the GOP followed through accordingly.
Note, there is no final vote tally because Heinrich tried to advance the bill through unanimous consent — a procedural move designed to help quickly advance uncontroversial measures. As a result, it only took one member to object and derail the legislation, and in this case, the bill had a lot more than one opponent.
At this point, I imagine many readers are saying, “Well, wasn’t this the obvious outcome? Republicans oppose practically all measures to prevent gun violence, so it hardly comes as a surprise that GOP senators would balk today.”
But it’s not quite that simple.
In October 2017, less than a week after the deadly massacre at the Mandalay Bay hotel, there was bipartisan support for taking action on bump stocks. A group of GOP senators — a nine-member contingent that included future Senate Minority Whip John Thune and vice presidential contender Tim Scott — pressed the Trump administration’s ATF to pursue a ban in the interest of public safety.
They were not excoriated for this break with far-right orthodoxy. For that matter, when the Trump administration agreed with the concerns and created a bump stock ban, conservatives did not condemn the White House or characterize this as an outrageous assault on the Second Amendment.
In other words, there’s no reason to reflexively see this as a partisan dispute. If Republicans were on board with a bump stock ban in 2017, they can back the same ban in 2024. “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 Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor this morning. “Senate Republicans by and large supported Donald Trump’s ban on bump stocks back then, so they should support this bill today.” The New York Democrat concluded, “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.” A few hours later, the GOP balked. “This will not be the last time you hear about these devices on the floor of the Senate,” Heinrich said as the debate came to an end.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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