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Las Vegas Shooting Survivors Denied Testimony In TN Legislature

Posted at 5:17 PM, Mar 07, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-08 00:04:36-05

A Tennessee legislative panel did not let two Las Vegas concert shooting survivors testify after Republican lawmakers delayed Democratic legislation to ban bump stocks.

Republican House Majority Leader Glen Casada said he requested Wednesday's delay on the bump stock ban proposal to hear how federal authorities will act in the coming weeks. President Donald Trump says he'll ban bump stocks by executive order.

House subcommittee chairman Republican Rep. Mike Carter said he doesn't recall allowing testimony on bills not being discussed. He said the two can testify when the bill is next considered.

Democratic Rep. Bill Beck disagreed, saying others have testified similarly. He and Democratic Rep. G.A. Hardaway left in protest.

"We have witnesses, people who are survivors of the Las Vegas shooting in November, one of whom came from Dallas just for this purpose," said representative Dwayne Thompson, the bill's sponsor. "He's not a wealthy person, he's a road manager for Jason Aldean. He came here for nothing."

The victims were Chris Stephens, a road manager for musician Jason Aldean, and Kari Kuefler.