Massachusetts First State To Ban Bump Stocks Since Shooting

Massachusetts will become the first state to ban bump stocks since the Las Vegas shooting last month. Republican Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito on Friday signed into law an appropriations bill that included a prohibition on the devices, which can make a semi-automatic rifle mimic the firing action of a fully automatic weapon.

Possession of bump stocks remain legal for 90 days after the bill is signed by the governor, but the Legislature opted against giving anyone who legally owns such a device time to sell it out of state.

Rep. David Linsky, a Natick Democrat who filed the initial bump stock amendment in the House, said Massachusetts would be the first state in the nation to ban the device. "I am confident this language will effectively ban bump stock devices, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and closing any loopholes that could be exploited by gun manufacturers," Linsky said in a statement.

Both branches in October passed versions of the budget that is necessary for the state to close its book on the fiscal year than ended June 30, but a procedural spat and policy differences led to unusually public sniping back and forth before the two sides reached agreement Thursday.

Authorities say Stephen Paddock used a bump stock while firing on concert-goers from his hotel room.

The Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association, had called on Republican Gov. Charlie Baker to veto the ban. Among other objections, the group said the potential penalties were too harsh.

Baker is on vacation outside the state, but had expressed his support for banning bump stocks in the days after the worst mass shooting in modern American history on Oct. 1.

Watch Now: Massachusetts First State To Ban Bump Stocks

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2017, file photo, shooting instructor Frankie McRae demonstrates the grip on an AR-15 rifle fitted with a "bump stock" at his 37 PSR Gun Club in Bunnlevel, N.C. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed the lawsuit on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, against the makers and sellers of “bump stocks,” which use the recoil of a semiautomatic rifle to let the finger "bump" the trigger, allowing the weapon to fire continuously. The devices were used by Stephen Paddock when he opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas, killing dozens of people. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)

Associated Press and State House News Service contributed to this report