Denver says yes to bump stocks ban less than four months after Las Vegas shooting

The Denver City Council on Monday passed a measure that will make it illegal to sell, carry, store or possess bump stocks, a device that was used last fall by a gunman to increase his rifle power as he shot and killed 58 people at a country music festival in Las Vegas.

The measure, which passed on an 11-1 vote, is largely symbolic as Denver has long prohibited the types of semiautomatic rifles that can be modified with bump stocks. But the vote was met with applause in council chambers, and several council members said it was a matter of public safety.

Denver becomes the second city in the United States to ban bump stocks — following in the footsteps of Columbia, S.C., which passed a similar measure last month. Several states, such as California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, have bans in place on the devices while more than a dozen other states are preparing legislation to do the same.

The Colorado legislature is considering its own ban on the devices, which are molded plastic or metal pieces that gun owners affix to their firearms to allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at a faster rate. But the prospects for passage of a bill are dim in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/22/denver-bans-bump-stocks/