GOP/GUNS/POLITICS: “In a departure from years of opposition to new gun control measures, some congressional Republicans started to show cautious interest Wednesday in legislation that would restrict devices that enable semi-automatic rifles to fire rapidly like automatic weapons.
Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he would like a hearing on the issue to learn more and said he has already brought it up to Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee…
For his part, Grassley said he wanted a full investigation into the massacre in Las Vegas — where a gunman killed at least 58 and wounded more than 500 earlier this week — before he moved forward with a hearing.
Going farther than Cornyn, Sen. Ron Johnson flat-out said he had ‘no problem’ banning the device…
In another significant development, Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, the key voice behind the so-called gun silencer bill that awaits a vote in the House, said he would be open to debating the bump stock issue and plans to talk to more of his Republican colleagues…
Earlier Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, introduced a bill that would ban the sale, transfer, importation, manufacture or possession of bump fire stocks, as well as trigger cranks and other accessories that accelerate a semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire.
Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline introduced the same legislation in the House on Wednesday and noted that nearly 100 members signed on, but so far no Republican has co-sponsored the bill.”
-Ashley Killough, Ted Barrett, Lauren Fox, and Deirdre Walsh, “Republicans signal some openness to new gun legislation on ‘bump stocks’,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Oct. 4, 2017 05:31pm