Republicans on Tuesday blocked an effort by Sen. Chuck Schumer to outlaw gun bump stocks after the Supreme Court overturned a Trump-era ban on the killer devices.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) called the measure a “Democratic show vote” and shot down a Democratic effort to pass the ban by unanimous consent.
Schumer earlier called on Republicans to join the effort to prohibit the devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire as many bullets as machine guns.
“If they don’t agree to ban bump stocks, shame on them,” Schumer said. “They’d be siding with the gun lobby over families exasperated by gun violence.”
Trump’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency imposed the ban after the 2017 massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival that was carried out by a gunman using bump stocks.
Most Republicans and an estimated 80% of Americans in polls supported the ban. But gun rights groups challenged the measure at the Supreme Court and won.
The conservative-led top court last week ruled that the ATF overstepped its regulatory authority. But in a concurring opinion, right-wing Justice Samuel Alito noted that Congress has the power to restore the ban by enacting a legal prohibition.
Schumer hasn’t said what steps he might take now that the bid for unanimous consent fails.
Even if it passes the Senate, the ban is unlikely to get a hearing in the Republican-led House of Representatives, where gun rights advocates hold significant influence.
