Gun control laws: Donald Trump to ban ‘bump stocks’ that turn semi-automatic rifles into rapid-fire weapons

Patrick Grafton-Green21 February 2018

Donald Trump wants to ban “bump stock” devices, which allow guns to be fired more rapidly and were used in the Las Vegas mass shooting last year.

The US president has come under increased pressure to impose gun restrictions in the wake of last week's shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida.

He said on Tuesday: “I signed a memorandum directing the Attorney General to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns.”

Speaking at a ceremony at the White House which recognised the bravery of America’s emergency services, he added that he expected the new regulations to be finalised "very soon".

Some 58 people were murdered by gunman Stephen Paddock at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in October.

The White House has previously hinted that Mr Trump may be open to increasing gun restrictions after the Florida shooting, in which the killer did not use "bump stocks".

It comes as dozens of students and parents from Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 teens and staff members died, boarded buses on Tuesday for a trip to the state capital Tallahassee to push for a ban on assault rifles.

Florida Shooting Victims

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The shooting was the second deadliest at a public school in US history, and has inflamed a national debate about gun control and prompted teens across the country to demand action.

Tyra Hemans, an 18-year-old senior at the school, said referring to Florida's law permitting the sale of assault rifles: "I am not going back to school until lawmakers, and the president, change this law.

"Three people I looked to for advice and courage are gone but never forgotten, and for them, I am going to our state capital to tell lawmakers we are tired and exhausted of stupid gun laws."

Police say Nikolas Cruz, 19, who had been expelled from the school, opened fire with a semiautomatic AR-15 assault rifle. He faces 17 counts of murder.

The youth-led protest movement that erupted within hours of the shooting received a boost on Tuesday when actor George Clooney and his wife Amal, a human rights lawyer, said they would donate $500,000 (£357,400) to help fund a planned march in Washington.

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