CRISIS/GUNS/LOBBYING: “The powerful U.S. gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, said on Sunday [10-8-17] it would oppose an outright ban on bump-stock devices that the killer in the Las Vegas massacre of 58 people used to turn rifles into automatic weapons and strafe a crowd with bursts of sustained gunfire.
The NRA, which has seldom embraced new firearms-control measures, stunned gun control advocates last week when it issued a statement voicing willingness to support a restriction on bump stocks.
On Sunday, the organization said it was open to regulation but opposed any legislation banning the devices…
Police said the gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, fitted 12 of his weapons with bump-stock devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to operate as if they were fully automatic machine guns, which are otherwise outlawed in the United States.”
-Sarah N. Lynch and Lindsay Dunsmuir, “NRA opposes outright U.S. ban on gun devices used by Las Vegas killer,” Reuters, Oct. 8, 2017 10:32am