A wave of Senate Democrats is backing a bipartisan bill to ban bump stocks after the Supreme Court threw out a federal ban on the gun attachment, Axios reports. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will try this week to pass a bump stock ban, knowing he's likely to draw an objection from at least one Republican, which would thwart the effort but boost Democrats' pre-election messaging. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) have picked up 20 new cosponsors for their Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act since the ruling. Republicans are likely to object to Schumer's unanimous consent request to pass the bill. Even a single GOP objection would give Democrats the opportunity to paint Republicans as broadly against a ban that polls show is popular and was put place under the Trump administration.
Bump stocks are attachments that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire bullets more rapidly. They were banned after a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, in which a gunman opened fire on a music festival, killing 60 and wounding 850 more. In its 6-3 ruling last week, the Supreme Court's conservative majority argued that bump stocks do not convert semiautomatic rifles into what the law defines as a machine gun. The Supreme Court's decision brings fresh attention to the debate over gun control ahead of the November election. Democrats are confident that voters, on balance, will reward any efforts at moderate firearms restrictions. Two vulnerable Senate Democrats from battleground states President Biden won in 2020 — Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) — cosponsored the bill. By contrast, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.)— who are seeking re-election in states Trump twice won — have not signed on. Schumer's strategy of prodding Republicans to block the measure without a recorded floor vote could provide some cover for vulnerable Democrats from red states.