Washington Senate passes bump stock ban

The Washington state Senate has passed a ban on trigger modification devices that are designed to accelerate a firearm’s rate of fire.

The measure to prohibit the devices, known as bump stocks, passed the chamber Thursday night on a 29-20 vote, with four Republicans voting with majority Democrats. The measure now heads to the House for consideration.

While the bill is a win for advocates of increased firearm regulations, gun shop owners in Tacoma worry that this new legislation is a “slippery slope” toward strict regulations that they fear could eventually make the firearm industry in Washington obsolete.

Damien Wongwai is the owner of Bull’s Eye Indoor Shooting Range in Tacoma. He says he hasn’t sold bump stocks in his store for years because they’re “finicky, novelty items.”

“They were a product that did not work,” Wongwai said. “So we just didn’t sell them. They sat on our shelves forever.”

While the ban on bump stocks in particular won’t affect Wongwai’s business, he sees the ban as overbroad and one that could lead to further tightening of gun legislation in the future.

“So that’s the big concern is, where does it end?” Wongwai said.

Northwest News Network reports that the ban would make it illegal for anyone in Washington to manufacture or sell bump stocks beginning July 1. In July 2019, it would become illegal to own or possess a bump stock in Washington.

Wongwai said if the bill clears the House he’ll likely sell off his trigger-modifying paraphernalia to gun sellers outside of the state, though his major concern isn’t the loss of revenue.

“It’s not the business,” Wongwai said. “It’s the rights.”

But even pro-gun politicians have been supportive of the ban.

“It aligns current practices with our state laws and our state laws have never allowed for fully automatic weapons,” said Democratic Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, who described himself as a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. “Therefore, I believe our state should not allow bump stocks.”

Democrats accepted an amendment from Republican Sen. Hans Zeiger — who voted for the final bill — that narrowed the definition of a trigger modification device to modifications that are specifically designed to accelerate the rate of fire.

The move to ban the devices came in response to last October’s mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and left hundreds more injured. Experts have said bump stocks increased the deadliness of the shooting because they enabled the shooter to fire as rapidly as he did.

Yet gun shop owners in the region don’t correlate bump stocks with the deadliness of the attack.

Daniel Davies, who co-owns Mary’s Pistols gun shop in Tacoma, says he doesn’t believe bump stocks were the cause of the historically high fatalities in the Las Vegas shooting.

“We can’t blame the object when we have to blame the person,” Davies said. “Bump stocks are a silly toy.”

Wongwai echoed a similar sentiment.

“The Vegas shooting was horrific,” he said. “Would it have been accomplished without the bump stock? Yes. Do I blame the tool? No.”

If the bill clears the House and Governor Jay Inslee signs it as is, the ban would go into effect in July.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Washington Senate passes bump stock ban."