Chairman Thompson Leads Letter Calling on President to Take Action on "Bump Stocks"

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, led a letter to the President urging him to take action to prohibit "bump stocks," the accessory that allowed the Las Vegas shooter's semi-automatic weapons to function as fully automatic weapons. The letter was co-signed by the 13 vice-chairs of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

In June 2010, the ATF issued a letter in which it found that bump stocks are considered a "firearm part" and cannot be regulated under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act.

"We are urging you to instruct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to issue a clarification that bump stocks should be considered prohibited accessories under the National Firearms Act," the Members said. "We believe that the ATF was incorrect in its assessment and ask that you instruct Acting Director Thomas Brandon to immediately issue a correction. Doing so is a necessary act to protect our communities from these dangerous firearm accessories."

"Bump stocks are a workaround existing law that make semi-automatic firearms function like full automatics," said Chairman Mike Thompson. "These devices drastically increase the weapons' lethality. We don't know how many lives could have been spared in Las Vegas had the shooter not had bump stocks, but we know we must act to address this loophole."

The full letter to the President can be found here.