WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy released a statement on Tuesday after President Trump said he directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to propose changes to ban bump-stock devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to be modified to fire at the rate of automatic weapons. 

“What we’re seeing now is an inflection point in the debate over reducing gun violence. For the first time, politicians are scared of the consequences of inaction. It’s a small, unsatisfying occasion for the people who pour their souls into this issue, but it’s vital to our success. 

“As both parties have been saying for months, bump stocks should be illegal. I’m glad the president agrees, and I hope his order is strong as he says it is. We should ban bump stocks and we should pass our Fix NICS Act, but that’s not enough. Our constituents are begging us to get serious about gun violence, and these small measures are wholly insufficient.” 

Following the massacre of 26 people at a Sutherland Springs, Texas church last year, Murphy called on Congress to work together to ensure that civilians cannot access after-market modifications that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons. He also joined U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in introducing the Automatic Gun Fire Prevention Act, a bill to close a loophole that allows people to use bump-stocks to turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons. Murphy is also the author of the Background Check Expansion Act to expand federal background checks to the sale or transfer of all firearms by private sellers, with certain reasonable exceptions, and co-author of the bipartisan Fix NICS Act to ensure federal and state authorities accurately report relevant criminal history records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

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