Columbia could be the first city in the nation to ban bump stocks + trigger cranks – attachments that turn semi-automatic guns (legal) into guns that act like fully-automatic weapons (illegal).

Mayor Steve Benjamin has proposed a City ordinance that would outlaw these accessories for civilian use. They’d still be legal to own. On the state level, some lawmakers are proposing outlawing both use + ownership of the devices.

Some definitions are necessary for this one.

A semi-automatic weapon (which is legal in the U.S.) reloads rounds automatically, but the trigger has to be pulled to fire each round (essentially one shot).
A bump stock is a device that alters legal rifles into illegal, almost-fully automatic weapons. (Bump stocks simulate the same action of an automatic firearm, but they are not fully automatic, which is why they haven’t been banned).
An automatic weapon can fire rounds rapidly + consecutively when its trigger is pulled just once.

After the Las Vegas shooting (where the gunman was found with 12 weapons altered with bump stocks), The National Rifle Association made a statement supporting a ban on these devices, but no federal action has been taken.

3 min read / The State