Connecticut governor to sign law banning bump stocks

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) is set to sign a bill passed by state lawmakers banning the sale of bump stocks for firearms.

Malloy proposed the ban in January and said in a Tuesday statement that he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk. 

State senators approved the measure in a 26-10 vote on Tuesday night after it was passed by the House last week.

The bill outlaws bump stocks and other devices that are used to increase the rate of fire for semiautomatic weapons.

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“I have yet to hear one legitimate reason why anyone needs to own a device that can fire 90 bullets every 10 seconds,” Malloy said in the statement.

Bump stocks became part of the national debate on gun violence last year after a gunman used them in a shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring almost 500.

Malloy said Connecticut lawmakers had listened to the “overwhelming, collective voices of the people” and not the powerful lobbyists at the National Rifle Association.

“We must continue to demand federal action by our representatives in Congress to enact these measures on a national basis once and for all,” Malloy said.

In March, President Trump announced that the Department of Justice would issue a rule banning the controversial devices following the Parkland, Fla., school shooting.

The president said he was directing the agency to reverse a 2010 decision by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that classified bump stocks as firearm parts, thus allowing the devices to be banned under current laws that prevent the sale of fully automatic weapons.

The inventor and manufacturer of the bump stock announced last month that it will shut down its website on May 20 and stop taking orders.