Gun bump stocks would be illegal in Lincoln — to sell or possess — under a proposed ordinance that will be considered by the City Council this month.
The proposal, offered by Councilwomen Leirion Gaylor Baird and Jane Raybould, would make it unlawful for any person to sell, give away or furnish a multiburst trigger activator. And it would be illegal for anyone to possess the devices within the city limits.
A public hearing will likely be scheduled at the City Council’s March 19 meeting, and the council could vote on the issue March 26.
Gaylor Baird said she waited to see whether federal or state officials would move to ban bump stocks, which turn rifles into fully-automatic weapons.
But such a ban doesn’t appear likely, she said.
"This closes a loophole in our laws that allows someone to turn a lawful weapon into a machine gun," she said.
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Language in the proposed ordinance spells out the rationale for banning the devices, such as bump stocks, hellfire triggers, trigger cranks and rotating trigger actuators.
The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history — the Oct. 1, 2017, Las Vegas shooting, where 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured — involved the use of a bump stock.
The firearms used in the massacre were capable of firing 400 to 800 rounds of ammunition per minute, as opposed to the 60 to 80 rounds per minute of a semi-automatic rifle, according to the proposed ordinance.
The devices not only "exponentially increase the lethality of weapons, they are undesirable for any legitimate hunting or sporting purpose as they severely compromise accuracy and the ability to control a weapon," according to the ordinance.
Former Councilman Dan Marvin introduced the idea of a bump stock ban in an open letter to the council last month.
Gaylor Baird and Raybould, both Democrats like Marvin, said they were interested in offering the proposal to the Council.
Raybould is also a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
President Donald Trump has said he would like to ban the sale of the devices, but a quick federal solution appears uncertain, since some experts say a ban would require congressional action.
Gaylor Baird said she prefers a more comprehensive federal approach. But "if the city can make it a little harder for someone to get their hands on bump stocks, that’s what we should do," she said.Ìý
The Legislature, nearing the end of its 2018 session, will not be dealing with the issue.
In his letter, Marvin addressed the issue of starting with local control.
"Some might say the city should not take the lead on firearms issues — that state or federal laws should cover firearms," he wrote. But city ordinances already address all types of weapons and make it illegal to possess a switchblade.
"Are we really OK with a law that prohibits a type of knife but is silent on a device that turns a gun into a machine gun?" Marvin asked.Ìý