Delaware bump stocks bill passes through house with amendments, returns to Senate

A bill that would ban bump stocks is now back in front of the Delaware State Senate. 

Bump stocks are an accessory that can be added to semi-automatic rifles to allow them to mimic the firing rate of an automatic rifle. 

House Bill 300 passed unanimously through the house on Tuesday.

The Senate had originally amended this bill to lessen the penalty for a first offense to a misdemeanor, but they also lessened the penalty for those who buy, sell or transfer the devices

The house then added their own amendment, making the penalty for possession alone a more severe misdemeanor. 

House lawmakers say that they have set aside $15,000 to compensate those who would be forced to turn in their bump stocks.  

Representative Valerie Longhurst (D) said in this case, she feels it is better to be proactive than reactive.

"You can't always wait until it happens to do something so by what happened in Vegas started a chain affect that everybody else you know the other states said there's no reason for anybody to have it, no reason," Representative Longhurst said. 

We're told House Bill 300 carries a delayed effective date of 120 days for possession and would establish a disposal process with law enforcement agencies.