NRA on bump stocks: ‘We don’t believe bans ever worked on anything’

The executive director of the National Rifle Association (NRA) said on Sunday that the organization is open to “regulating differently” bump stocks on guns but not necessarily to banning the devices.

His comment follows President Trump on Thursday saying he is open to considering legislation that would ban bump stocks, which were implicated in the mass shooting that happened in Las Vegas last weekend.

“We don’t believe bans ever worked on anything,” Chris Cox told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” when asked whether the organization would support a ban on the devices. 

{mosads}Cox’s comments come one week after a shooter opened fire on thousands of people at a country music festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds of others. 

Authorities say the suspect, Stephen Paddock, used bump stocks, which simulate automatic gunfire by harnessing a semi-automatic rifle’s recoil to increase its rate of fire.

Trump said on Thursday the administration was looking into legislation that would ban the devices. 

Nine Republican senators sent a letter to the Trump administration this week, asking for a review of bump stocks. 

The NRA called for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review the devices in a rare move on Thursday.

“The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations,” Cox and NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said in a statement.