A Michigan lawmaker is introducing legislation to ban bump stocks in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the devices earlier this month.
Following the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, the Trump administration created a federal rule banning bump stocks, which increase the rate of fire for semi-automatic weapons.
The Supreme Court overturned the ban earlier this month.
State Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) called that decision "disappointing." She drafted and introduced a bill this week that would make it a felony to possess manufacture or sell bump stocks in the state.
"We're not immune to mass shooting," she said. “I would not be able to live with myself if I didn't try to do something that could keep these bump stock devices out of hands of people who are bent on committing a mass shooting.”
More than a dozen other states and the nation's capital have enacted laws to ban bump stocks. Polehanki’s bill would add the devices to a list that includes machine guns, silencers and brass knuckles, which are all illegal to possess or distribute in Michigan.
The state senator said many of her Democratic colleagues had co-sponsored the bill. She would like Republican lawmakers get on board with the proposal.
"I hope they can come to understand that nobody needs a bump stock in Michigan that essentially turns a regular firearm into a rapid-fire machine gun-like firearm," she said. "It's my hope that we have bipartisan support."
The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety. Polehanki expects to see the bill go up for a vote before the end of this year.
