[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4119-S4120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BUMP STOCK LEGISLATION

  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.

[[Page S4120]]

  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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