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Lawmakers Put Bump Stock Bill On Hold

Posted at 6:31 PM, Mar 08, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-08 19:31:24-05

State lawmakers decided to put legislation regarding bump stocks on hold, saying they're waiting for a federal decision from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Representative Glen Casada said he wants to wait until they make a decision before Tennessee does.

The bill would regulate the use of bump stocks or other devices that enables guns to fire like automatic weapons.

A bump stock was used in the Las Vegas Massacre to kill dozens of people, and wound hundreds. Two survivors of that event were here in Nashville to testify on the bill, one of whom had flown from Texas.

They were not allowed to speak, despite protests from two members of the committee. NewsChannel 5 asked Representative Casada why the survivors weren't allowed to speak.

"Number one, I didn't know they were speakers. I had no idea they had speakers there. My motion to roll was in light of the ATF was going to rule on this in a couple of weeks. So, whatever we do today and next week will be superseded by the ATF and federal regulations," said Casada.

When NewsChannel 5 asked why an exception wasn't made and then the bill be rolled, Casada said there are house rules and the speaker of the committee decided to follow those rules.