Trump directs DOJ to impose bump stock ban

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he has directed the U.S. Department of Justice to impose new regulations to ban bump stocks, devices used to increase the firing rate of semi-automatic weapons. Bump stocks became the subject of debate after the October massacre at a country music concert in Las Vegas, where investigators discovered the gunman used the device to rain down bullets on the audience. That attack left 58 people dead and hundreds more injured. Trump said he directed the Justice Department to review the legality of bump stocks last year, and on Tuesday he signed a memorandum to impose regulations that would ban the sale of such devices in the United States. “We cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference, we must actually make a difference,” the president said Tuesday in a speech at the White House. Trump said he plans to meet with leaders in Florida this week to discuss other ways to keep Americans safe in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people died. Lawmakers introduced a bill banning bump stocks last year after the Las Vegas shooting but it never received a vote. Trump said he expects the new regulations on bump stock sales to go into effect “very soon.”