Milwaukee Common Council urges legislative action to ban bump stocks

The Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday backed lobbying lawmakers to ban bump stocks for guns following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a Trump-era prohibition on the devices that turn a semi-automatic rifle into something more akin to a machine gun.

The push comes less than two weeks before the Republican National Convention begins in downtown Milwaukee. Under state law, the city cannot prohibit guns in the area immediately surrounding the four-day convention, at which former President Donald Trump is expected to officially accept the party's nomination to run for a second term in the White House.

"This is a horrific public safety risk and I would urge ... that the state Legislature come together and take action on this immediately. Otherwise, we are exposing our residents and our guests to real danger," said Ald. Scott Spiker, the measure's lead sponsor.

He asked that the state Senate and Assembly come back into session to "untie our hands" to allow the city to ban bump stocks.

"This is part of a broader discussion about local control," he said.

Every other member present at Tuesday's Common Council meeting backed the city legislation, which states the city's support for state and federal laws banning bump stocks and adds introduction of such a ban to the city's lobbying agenda at the state.

The city legislation slams the Supreme Court decision as being "based on a novel, contorted and convoluted definition of 'machine gun' that bypasses congressional intent, textual fidelity and common sense."

Last month the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines found that the federal government erroneously classified bump stocks as machine guns.

The devices, which harness the recoil of the rifle to accelerate trigger pulls, allows for the firing of 400 to 800 rounds per minute, USA TODAY reported.

Trump's administration banned bump stocks after a gunman used the devices in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas in 2017.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.