After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a ban on bump stocks for firearms, Democrats introduced legislation to reinstate the ban.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) sought “unanimous consent” to pass the ‘BUMP Act.’

However, a Republican senator objected and stalled the bill.

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) blocked the legislation from moving forward, and several other GOP senators backed his objection.

“@SenatorRicketts has BLOCKED the passage of a fake ‘bump stock ban’ which also required semiautomatic gun registration under the unconstitutional National Firearms Act of 1934. It would also have encouraged a new ATF rule banning most semiautomatic firearms,” Gun Owners of America wrote.

WATCH:

Per CNN:

Criticizing the bill as overreach, Ricketts said, “This bill would ban literally any item that makes a firearm easier and in some cases safer to shoot.”

“It’s not really about bump stocks, this bill is about banning as many firearm accessories as possible,” he said. “It’s an unconstitutional attack on law-abiding gun owners.”

Earlier this week, several senior Republican senators expressed a tentative openness to legislation restricting the use of bump stocks, but others argued it wasn’t a good idea.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said “no,” he does not support any legislation restricting or banning bump stocks – a significant block to any potential bill.

“The court ruling was accurate,” he added.

“The Second Amendment says Congress has NO AUTHORITY to ban semiautomatic firearms, machineguns, or even accessories like bump stocks,” Gun Owners of America wrote.

NBC News reports:

The move Tuesday followed a Supreme Court decision last week saying the executive branch may not use existing law to ban bump stocks, although the 6-3 ruling along ideological lines kept the door open for Congress to regulate the accessories with a new law.

Unanimous consent is one mechanism for the Senate to pass legislation speedily, often used for non-controversial measures. Schumer can also bring the bump stock bill or other legislation up through the regular process, which takes more time and requires 60 votes to break a filibuster. That means at least 9 Republicans would have to support it if Democrats and independents stick together.

Before the unanimous consent request, Schumer didn’t say whether he’d bring up the bill through regular channels if it stalled, imploring Republicans to “see the light” and not block it.

 

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