HARTFORD, CT – Democrats in the State Senate today led passage of critical public safety legislation banning bump stocks which can turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons. Bump stocks are devices that transform the firing mechanism of a semi-automatic weapon into a weapon that fires like a fully automatic weapon; a bump stock was used in the Las Vegas shooting, where the shooter was able to fire an estimated 90 shots in 10 seconds. It also makes the weapon less accurate.

“Banning these bump stocks will move us closer to making our state a safe place where people want to raise their children,” Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) said. “In the 22nd Senatorial District, we felt the pain of our neighbors in Newtown in 2012, and we know the damage that can be done using these automatic-style weapons. It’s harmful to families and the communities they live in.”

“Too many lives across the country, including the 58 lives in the tragic Las Vegas shooting, have been lost to these types of weapons,” said Senator Ed Gomes (D-Bridgeport). “These bump stocks, which make it easier to fire rounds quickly from a semi-automatic weapon, have no place in our society. Banning them is the right thing to do to make our communities safer.”

HB 5542, An Act Concerning Bump Stocks and Other Means of Enhancing the Rate of Fire of a Firearm, generally makes it a class D felony for anyone, except a licensed firearms manufacturer fulfilling a military contract, to sell, offer to sell, otherwise transfer, or offer to transfer, purchase, possess, use, or manufacture a “rate of fire enhancement” (e.g., a bump stock). By law, a class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine up to $5,000, or both.

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