Bump stock ban fails to pass Illinois House

The Illinois House of Representatives rejected a bill on Thursday banning bump stocks, the accessory used by a shooter to kill 58 people in Las Vegas this month, as well as other similar devices, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Opponents of the bill expressed concern over its scope, which they argued was too far-reaching and would have a disproportionate impact on law-abiding gun owners in the state, according to the Tribune.

The bill failed to pass by a 54-48 vote. 

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One Democrat, Rep. Jerry Costello, pointed out that the bill’s scope was too wide, as it would ban any device that alters a gun’s rate of fire.

“I don’t view this as a bump stock ban, I view this as a ban on 40 to 50 percent of the guns in the state,” Costello said, according to the Tribune.

Bump stocks harness the recoil from semi-automatic weapons to increase the rate of firing to mimic that of automatic weapons, which are illegal for citizen use.

State Rep. Chris Welch (D) said the conversation over the legislation would have gone differently had the tragic shooting taken place in Chicago instead of Las Vegas, according to the report. An alternative bill proposed by a Republican member of the House banning only bump stocks is now reportedly gathering support. 

State Rep. Marty Moylan (D), a leading voice in the push for the new legislation, said he would consider limiting the scope of the bill, but rejected the Republican proposal, the Tribune reported.

The failure of Illinois’s bill comes as both the House and Senate are struggling to get bills with similar restrictions off the ground, just three weeks after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history.