Here & Now

Wisconsin Delegation Reacts To Las Vegas Shooting

Frederica Freyberg:

In our closer look this week, the fallout and reaction in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting. That shooting has put Republicans on the defensive over their opposition to new gun restrictions and their efforts to eliminate existing ones. This week Republicans halted at least temporarily a plan to advance legislation making it easier to buy gun silencers. The shooting in Las Vegas that left at least 59 dead and hundreds injured magnified those efforts. House Speaker Paul Ryan says the focus should be on mental health rather than on gun restrictions.

Paul Ryan:

So I think it’s important that as we see the dust settle and we see what was behind some of these tragedies, that mental health reform is a critical ingredient to making sure that we can try and prevent some of these things from happening in the past. So that’s just one example of the things that Congress has done to make sure that we can try and get ahead of these problems.

Frederica Freyberg:

Following the attack, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said, “My committee will work to support the federal role in investigating this attack and protecting against further threats. As Americans, we might unite to defeat threats to our nation’s security, both foreign and domestic.” Wisconsin’s Democratic U.S. Senator, Tammy Baldwin, said in a statement, “It’s frankly hard to comprehend a tragedy of this magnitude. It’s evil and senseless. So to my colleagues, let’s move past thoughts and prayers. It’s time for action.” According to Wisconsin laws, machine guns or any other fully automatic guns for the most part are illegal. Under federal law there are some exceptions. You can purchase what’s called a bump stock legally in Wisconsin or online, which can convert a single-fire semiautomatic gun into a fully automatic weapon that files 400 to 600 shots per minute. However in Wisconsin, it’s a felony to modify a weapon to make it automatic using that device. Senator Johnson and Speaker Ryan say they are open to the idea of banning bump stocks.