Donald Trump and the NRA to investigate gun bump stocks

  • Video report by ITV News correspondent Penny Marshall

Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association have agreed to regulate the bump stock attachment allegedly used by Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock.

Bump stocks - devices used to convert semi-automatic weapons to automatic - were found among Paddock's guns and explain why victims heard what sounded like an automatic weapon fire when he killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more.

But any regulations on ownership could be met with resistance from the pro-gun lobby, as ITV News heard in Nevada.

One woman - practising shooting just miles from the Las Vegas massacre - said: "I don't think that preventing people from purchasing fire arms is going to prevent a problem. The problem is bad people. It's a people problem."

The NRA, which usually opposes any new restrictions, called for an immediate review into whether bump stocks comply with federal law.

It added in a statement: "The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations."

This gun supporter believes it's a 'people problem, not gun problem'. Credit: ITV News

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders praised the announcement.

She said: "We welcome that and a conversation on that. It's something we're very open to."

House Speaker Paul Ryan added his support, as have other top Republicans.

Around 40% of Americans own guns, or live in a house where someone else does.

This gun shop does not sell bump stocks. Credit: ITV News

But speaking to ITV News, one gun owner said: "I think they've done too much as it is. They've made the constitution, the Second Amendment, you can't change something that's been enacted since 1776."

Army veteran Gustavo also believes in the right to self-defence. He added: "We saw what happened, there are evil people out there for sure."

When asked if Stephen Paddock did evil because he had access to guns, he replied: "No. He did a lot of evil because he was an evil person. "

One Las Vegas gun dealer told how banning bump stocks would not affect most gun users.

He said: "In three years, we've maybe had three requests. We don't stock them, we don't sell them, we don't believe in them or like them. We think they're a gimmick. We just refuse to participate."

A bump stock is attached to a semi-automatic rifle. Credit: AP

  • What is a bump stock?

Originally intended to help people with disabilities, a bump stock is a legal device that fits below the trigger of a gun to convert a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic weapon.

A semi-automatic weapon fires a single bullet with each pull of the trigger, whereas an automatic fires for as long as you compress the trigger.

The bump stock, which is fitted by the trigger, allows the weapon to fire continuously - some 400 to 800 rounds in a single minute.

Most automatic rifles have been illegal to own in the US since 1986, so bump stocks create a loophole in the law.

Slide Fire, one of the companies that sell the device, said this week that they were out of stock "due to extreme high demand".