President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would issue an executive order banning bump-stock devices that were used in the Las Vegas shooting in October that killed 58 people and injured 851 others.
"I'm going to write that out," Trump told a bipartisan group of legislators in a meeting on gun safety at the White House. "We can do that with an executive order.
"I'm essentially going to write it out," he said. "You won't have to worry about bump stocks.
"Shortly, that will be gone.
"We can focus on other things," Trump said.
"We'll have that done. They're working on it quickly."
In the Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre, the shooter, Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, used bump stocks on the guns he used to fire more than 1,100 rounds from his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.
About an hour after he fired his last shot into the crowd, Paddock was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Within days of the attack, the National Rifle Association said such devices "should be subject to additional regulation."
"In the aftermath of the evil and senseless attack in Las Vegas, the American people are looking for answers as to how future tragedies can be prevented," the NRA said in statement.
House Speaker Paul Ryan also called for Congress to look into regulating bump stocks — a day after cautioning against quick action after the Las Vegas attack.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday bump stocks could be banned through the regulatory process.
"We're getting rid of it," Trump reiterated near the end of the session. "I'll do it myself, because I'm able to.
"Fortunately, we can do it without going through Congress."
Trump began the session with legislators saying "we have to do something" about widespread gun violence and pushed for comprehensive bipartisan legislation instead of "15 bills."
"We have to act," Trump said.
"We can't wait and play games and nothing gets done."
He regularly referenced the NRA in the discussion, saying he supported the Second Amendment and the association.
"The NRA is opposed to it — and I'm a fan of the NRA," Trump said, referring to his call to raise the legal age to buy certain weapons from 18 to 21.
"I'm a big fan of the NRA. These are great people. Great patriots," Trump said. "They love our country, but that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything."
He challenged Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on the background checks legislation they have sponsored since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that did not include raising the gun-buying age.
"We didn't address it, Mr. President," Toomey said.
"Do you know why?" Trump asked. "You're afraid of the NRA."
He later scolded another Democrat, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, after he said, "I think you underestimate the power of the gun lobby."
President Trump retorted he met with top NRA officials Sunday, telling them "we've got to do something."
"They have great power over you people, but they have less power over me," Trump said.
"I said to them nicely: 'Fellows, we've got to do something. We can't keep restricting. We have to do what's right.'
"Some of you people are petrified of the NRA," Trump told the lawmakers. "You can't be petrified.
"They want to do what's right. They're going to do what's right.
"I really believe that."
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who was jeered at a town hall last week on school violence after the Parkland shooting, backed the STOP School Violence Act that was proposed last month in the House to end the "multi-systemic failure" that presaged the massacre.
"Nobody told the others what they knew," he said.
"It incentivizes the creation of this synergy, where all these people are talking to each so they can compare notes and get ahead of this.
"The best way to prevent these is to stop it before it even starts."
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who was seriously injured last year in a shooting on a baseball field in Northern Virginia, noted the House had passed legislation tightening background checks.
"We came together and actually passed a bill," he said.
It also contained a provision allowing for interstate concealed-carry reciprocity for gun owners — and Scalise encouraged his colleagues that it not be "immediately discounted" in the debate.
"These are people who, by and large, are helping us stop crimes — going out there and to help prevent crimes," he said.
"I would hope that's not immediately dismissed, because there is a lot of talk of putting that on the side."
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who became San Francisco's mayor in 1978 after the shooting deaths of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, called for an assault-weapons ban.
When the 10-year prohibition was in place, "incidents and deaths dropped," she told Trump.
"When it ended, you see them going up."
Trump only responded, "I'll take a look at it."
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