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Curbelo, Moulton file bill to ban 'bump stocks' like ones used in Las Vegas shooting

@PatriciaMazzei

Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo and Connecticut Democrat Seth Moulton filed legislation Tuesday to ban the manufacture, sale and use of "bump stock" devices that turn semiautomatic weapons essentially into outlawed machine guns.

The bipartisan effort to draft the bill began last week after the Las Vegas shooting, where the shooter, Stephen Paddock, killed 58 people using, at least in some cases, weapons outfitted with bump stocks. Under the bill, violating the ban would be a felony offense with increased penalties for offenders.

"For the first time in decades, there is growing bipartisan consensus for sensible gun policy, a polarizing issue that has deeply divided Republicans and Democrats," Curbelo said in a statement to the Miami Herald. "This common-sense legislation will ban devices that blatantly circumvent already existing law without restricting Second Amendment rights. I'm proud to join Rep. Moulton to lead our colleagues in this important first step to address gun violence in our country and show that Congress is capable of working constructively in a bipartisan way to make Americans safer."

The legislation has 20 original cosponsors -- 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Additional members of Congress can only sign on if a lawmaker from the opposing party also inks their name to the bill. Among them is Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

A couple of Republican senators have reached out to Curbelo's office asking about possibly introducing a companion in the Senate, a Curbelo staffer told the Herald.

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