Ky. congressman emerges as vocal defender of bump stocks

“[Massie] thinks very deeply about these issues,” GOA’s Michael Hammond said. “He thinks beyond the surface questions. And incidentally on the bump stocks, he’s absolutely right.”

Ky. congressman emerges as vocal defender of bump stocks

If bump stocks need a defender in Congress after last week’s deadly massacre in Las Vegas, Rep. Thomas Massie is their man.

Bump stocks can be attached to a semi-automatic weapon to make it fire like a fully automatic weapon. And they’ve been under intense scrutiny since the Las Vegas killer  used those devices in his Oct. 1 shooting rampage, which killed 58 people and injured hundreds more gathered for a country music concert

In the days since, Democrats have drafted a bill to ban bump stocks. Republicans have said they’re open to that idea. And even the National Rifle Association, a powerful gun lobby group, has suggested a federal review of the devices.

Massie, a Kentucky Republican and self-described collector of such things as machine guns, short-barrelled shotguns and silencers, has pushed back—hard.

The Kentucky congressman, who holds a concealed carry permit and says he is generally armed when he’s his home state, has questioned whether bump stocks truly made last week’s shooting in Las Vegas more deadly.

“Needs to be discussed: Murderer probably could have fired more rounds conventionally instead of dealing with misfires caused by #bumpstocks,” Massie tweeted on Oct. 7.

Michael Hammond, the legislative counsel for another gun-rights group, Gun Owners of America, called Massie an “ally.”

“He thinks very deeply about these issues,” Hammond said. “He thinks beyond the surface questions. And incidentally on the bump stocks, he’s absolutely right.”

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