WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has directed the Justice Department to explore a ban of bump stocks and other devices that can effectively turn a gun into a fully automatic weapon.
Bump stocks gained national attention after one was used in the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting in which 58 people were killed.
Trump’s announcement came less than a week after the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. The president vowed Tuesday that “we must do more to protect our children. We have to do more.”
Trump said he would be discussing “common sense security measures and addressing mental health issues.”
At the White House press briefing earlier Tuesday, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders also left open the possibility that the Trump administration might consider a ban on assault weapons, saying the White House hasn’t “closed the door on any front.”
