Virginia legislators weigh in on bump stocks after federal ban struck down

The Supreme Court last week struck down a federal ban on bump stocks, but some Virginia legislators say the debate isn’t over.

“We will continue talking about it,” said U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, speaking Thursday at a virtual news conference. “The bump stock ruling by the Supreme Court was more about that you couldn’t do it via regulation — it didn’t say you couldn’t do it by statute.”

Bump stocks are devices that can be attached to semiautomatic rifles to allow the weapons to fire bullets at nearly the same rate as machine guns, while still not meeting the technical definition of machine guns — which are largely prohibited under federal law.

The Trump administration enacted a federal ban in the wake of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting. A gunman using bump stocks opened fire on a Las Vegas music festival in 2017, killing 60 people and injuring hundreds within 10 minutes.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority threw out the ban June 14, arguing the matter should have been left to legislators.

“That event demonstrated that a semiautomatic rifle with a bump stock can have the same lethal effect as a machine gun, and it thus strengthened the case for amending (existing laws),” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his concurring opinion. “But an event that highlights the need to amend a law does not itself change the law’s meaning. There is a simple remedy for the disparate treatment of bump stocks and machine guns. Congress can amend the law.”

Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are carrying legislation that would amend the federal criminal code to prohibit the import, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of bump stocks.

On Tuesday, Democrats tried to force a voice vote on the measure, but Nebraska Republican Pete Ricketts blocked an immediate vote on the bill and slammed it as a “gun grabbing overreach.”

Kaine, who is among the legislation’s cosponsors, said states don’t have to wait for Congress to act.

“The other thing that could happen is states can do this on their own,” Kaine said. “Virginia has embraced a set of gun safety measures in recent years that have not yet been embraced at the federal level, so this would be something that I would hope the Virginia General Assembly might take up as well.”

Virginia enacted several new gun safety laws, including red flag laws and universal background checks, when Democrats held the statehouse and executive mansion in 2020.

On Thursday, House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott said he expects Democrats will carry legislation next year that would ban bump stocks.

“I think it is safe to say that we are going to do everything we can to continue to protect the public from these type of firearm accessories that make it easier to kill a whole lot of people at one time,” said the Portsmouth Democrat.

Scott pointed out that Florida enacted various gun safety measures, including a ban on bump stocks, following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

“We are going to take a look at how Florida was able to come together across party lines to solve this problem,” Scott said.

A spokesperson for House of Delegates Minority Leader Todd Gilbert did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked if Gov. Glenn Youngkin would support a bump stock ban, spokesperson Christian Martinez indicated it would be unlikely.

“Virginia’s gun laws are already among the toughest in the nation,” Martinez wrote in an email. “Governor Youngkin will continue to pursue policies to hold criminals that commit crimes with guns accountable by strengthening penalties to effectively keep criminals off the streets.”

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com