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Gov. Malloy Seeks To Ban Bump Stock Devices in Connecticut

Ryan Caron King
/
WNPR
Governor Dannel Malloy

Governor Dannel Malloy says he expects changes to Connecticut's gun laws in reaction to the killings Sunday night in Las Vegas. 

Earlier this week, officials confirmed that 12 of the rifles used in the massacre at an outdoor concert in the city were outfitted with a piece of equipment called a bump stock. That's a legal device that modifies a semi-automatic weapon to have the rapid-fire capabilities of an automatic weapon.

Governor Malloy said Wednesday the device serves as a loophole around federal gun laws, and should be banned in Connecticut.

"Technically, they don't change the mechanics of the weapon they're attached to, but realistically they turn it into a machine gun," he told reporters. "Knowing that, it would probably be appropriate to eliminate the sale of those in the state of Connecticut."

Malloy said, like the state gun laws enacted in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, he expects bipartisan support for legislation banning bump stocks.

Analysis by the New York Times shows one of the bump stock-fitted rifles used in the Las Vegas shooting fired about 90 shots in 10 seconds, compared to 24 shots in 9 seconds fired from the semi-automatic weapon used in the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

Ray Hardman is Connecticut Public’s Arts and Culture Reporter. He is the host of CPTV’s Emmy-nominated original series Where Art Thou? Listeners to Connecticut Public Radio may know Ray as the local voice of Morning Edition, and later of All Things Considered.

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