State lawmakers eye bump-stock ban after killings in Las Vegas

Hawaii lawmakers are discussing versions of two bills that would tighten the state’s already strict gun regulations.

One bill would ban so-called bump stocks, devices used by Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock in an October attack that killed 58 concertgoers and injured hundreds. A bump stock gives a semiautomatic rifle a rate of fire similar to that of an automatic weapon.

Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington state and Vermont have banned the devices since the Las Vegas shooting. Florida’s governor last month signed a bill banning them, but the National Rifle Association has filed a lawsuit challenging it.

The other bill would reduce the time a gun owner disqualified from possessing a gun would have to surrender weapons. State House and Senate versions both would provide seven business days, down from the current 30. The Senate version would allow seven days.

House and Senate members are currently working out differences in their bills.

Sen. Clarence Nishihara, the Democratic chairman of the Senate’s public safety committee, conceded the legislation won’t eliminate gun violence. “At least it’s an attempt to reduce the possibility. And that’s all we can do,” Nishihara said.

Democratic Rep. Scott Nishimoto, the House Judiciary committee chairman, said lawmakers want to do all they can to ensure mass shootings don’t occur in Hawaii.

The bump stock ban would make the sale or possession of bumps stocks a felony.

On Wednesday, the largest manufacturer of bump stocks announced that it will stop taking orders and shut down its website next month. Slide Fire Solutions, which is based in Moran, Texas, provided no other details and did not say why it was shutting down.