Kaine Cosponsors Bills to Ban Bump Stocks and Prevent Gun Violence Following Dangerous Supreme Court Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) announced his cosponsorship of two pieces of legislation—the Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act and the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act—that would ban bump stocks, devices that turn semiautomatic weapons into machine guns by increasing their rate of fire. Kaine’s cosponsorships follow a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that overturned a ban on bump stocks.
“In 2017, a gunman used a rapid-fire rifle bump stock to open fire on a crowd of concert goers in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more,” said Kaine. “I’m deeply frustrated that the Supreme Court struck down the bump stock ban that followed that horrific tragedy. The American people are counting on Congress to reimpose commonsense guardrails on this dangerous technology. That’s why I’m cosponsoring these bills and encouraging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in working to keep bump stocks off our streets.”
The BUMP Act would prohibit the sale of bump stocks.
The GOSAFE Act would limit large capacity ammunition feeding devices. The legislation would also mandate that future designs of semiautomatic weapons are approved before manufacture, prevent unlawful firearm self-assembly and manufacturing, and create a buy-back program to ensure no one loses the value of firearms that are restricted by this bill. This legislation specifically regulates semiautomatic, gas-operated firearms that are commonly used in mass shootings across the nation while allowing smaller, non-large capacity ammunition feeding devices.
Both bills have been endorsed by numerous gun safety organizations, including Everytown for Gun Safety, GIFFORDS, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, March for Our Lives, March Fourth, and more.
Kaine has long supported legislation to prevent gun violence. In April, on the 17th anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting, Kaine introduced the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, legislation to federally enact a series of commonsense gun violence prevention measures adopted by Virginia that would mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy. In 2022, Kaine also supported the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, landmark legislation passed in the wake of the horrific mass shootings in Uvalde, TX and Buffalo, NY to improve background checks, strengthen safeguards for victims of domestic violence, and create incentives for states to take the initiative to remove firearms from individuals who pose a high risk of harming themselves or others.
Full text of the BUMP Act is available here. Full text of the GOSAFE Act is available here.
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