WASHINGTON — In the week following the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, the National Rifle Association has released a statement urging restriction of bump stocks, saying it “believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.”
The shooter in the Las Vegas killings, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, had 24 guns in the hotel suite he used as a base to carry out his attack. A number of those weapons were fitted with bump stocks.
[custom_gallery]
When legislators at the state or national level call for restrictions of firearms, ammunition or accessories to firearms, it’s not uncommon to see a jump in sales. But in the case of bump stocks, potential customers may find their access cut off — at least temporarily — by sellers and, in one case, a manufacturer.
Outdoor sports retailer Cabela’s has issued a statement saying bump stocks, the devices that allow semi-automatic firearms to fire more like fully automatic weapons, will no longer be sold in their retail outlets or online.
In the statement, issued with Bass Pro Shops (which recently purchased Cabela’s), the outlets referenced the mass shooting in Las Vegas, saying, “Like all Americans, we are shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas.”
Slide Fire, a manufacturer of bump stocks, has temporarily suspended sales. A message on Slide Fire’s website makes no reference to the massacre in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and hundreds injured, but explained that the makers of the bump stocks was suspending new orders “in order to provide the best service with those already placed.”
[related_gallery align=”right”]WTOP called Slide Fire, but got a voicemail with a recorded statement that said, “I’m out of message space and can’t record anymore.”
Several local gun shops in Maryland, when asked about bump stocks, said they don’t stock the accessories. One shop staffer called the accessories “a nuisance.”
Kurt Burdine at Gilbert Indoor Range in Rockville said clients can use bump stocks when shooting at the Rockville facility, but added that they do require practice to get used to.
Burdine said that without proper training “they can get out of control.”
“I mean, we hear a lot of people who say you should or should not have them,” said Burdine when asked if bump stocks should be restricted in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting.
“We’re for guns here at our range, so I would say they’re fine in the proper hands … As long as they’re in the proper hands, the public should still have access to them.”
