ANNAPOLIS, Md.– The Maryland chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement applauding lawmakers for passing legislation out of the Senate that would prohibit bump stocks and other conversion devices. This bill makes it illegal to own, manufacture or sell bump stocks, trigger cranks and other firearm conversion devices that effectively allow semi-automatic firearms to mimic firing speeds of machine guns.
Machine guns have been tightly regulated under federal law since the 1930s, but bump stocks and other rapid-fire devices are designed to skirt the law and mimic automatic gunfire and can increase the lethality of shootings. Guns equipped with bump stocks were used in the largest and deadliest mass shooting in modern American history last year in Las Vegas, where 58 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
STATEMENT FROM DANIELLE VEITH, VOLUNTEER LEADER WITH THE MARYLAND CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“We are proud of Maryland for joining Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida and Washington as one of the first states to make these kind of dangerous devices illegal. No one should be able to end run public safety laws. But the work to prevent gun violence is not done. We need lawmakers to finally act to protect Maryland families by passing life-saving Domestic Violence legislation that protects survivors and their families. Red Flag legislation empowers families and law enforcement officers to act on warning signs and stop tragedies before they happen. The time to pass these pieces of legislation is now. Lives are on the line.”