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A Push to Ban "Bump Stocks" Fails in Illinois House

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WFTX
A bump-fire stock is seen on one of the weapons found in the hotel suite from which Stephen Paddock rained bullets on concertgoers below.

The Illinois House Thursday tried - and failed - to ban the gun modification known as a "bump stock."

The legislation was a response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas.


Bump stocks use a semiautomatic rifle’s recoil to make it fire more like a fully-automatic weapon.

The Las Vegas gunman used the devices to maximize casualties among country music fans attending a festival.
Some Republicans say they can agree to banning the devices. But Democrats added other prohibitions to the legislation — like banning all trigger modifications that increase a gun’s rate of fire. Some democrats also disagreed with the move. Democratic Representative Jerry Costello II of Smithton says that's a big problem.

Democratic Rep. Chris Welch, from Hillside, says the gunman had also booked a hotel room in Chicago this summer, overlooking the Lollapalooza music festival.
 
"We all know someone who's attended Lollapalooza. We ask know someone who's going to be there next summer. The question is: What will it take for us to do action?"

The bill was soundly defeated, with only 48 voting ‘yes' to 54 ‘no.'

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