Steve Scalise speaking on the House floor of the Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 28. Scalise returned to the House on Thursday, more than three months after a baseball practice shooting left him fighting for his life. | House Television via AP Scalise criticizes 'rush to judgment' on guns, bump stocks

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise on Sunday criticized proposed legislation to ban so-called bump stocks as a "rush to judgment" in the wake of last week's mass shooting in Las Vegas.

In an interview on "Meet the Press," the Louisiana Republican, who was seriously injured in a shooting targeting a GOP congressional baseball practice in June, expressed skepticism about Democratic calls for a ban on bump stocks, a modification that allows semi-automatic rifles to fire like fully automatic weapons. Several guns the Las Vegas gunman had in his hotel room were modified with bump stocks.


"If you talked to anybody about a week ago, most people, including myself, didn't even know what a bump stock was," Scalise said. "So now we're finding out about it. There are people that want to rush to judgment. They've got a bill written already."

"It's a little bit early for people to say they know what to do to fix this problem," Scalise said.

Scalise, however, endorsed a review of regulations on bump stocks. The National Rifle Association called for the review last week. Democrats such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), however, have countered that a ban needs to be codified into law so it remains in place.

"They want to go out and limit the rights of gun owners," Scalise said of Democratic proposals, specifically naming House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who argued for wider gun control measures beyond bump stocks.

"I would first say that we've had a gun control debate for a long time," Scalise said, citing the NRA's endorsement of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's vocal support for stricter gun control laws.

Scalise instead argued for enforcement of "limits that are already in place" and "laws that are on the books" and contended that Congress has acted to "address different components" of mass shootings, such as mental health.

"Frankly, let's go out and enforce those laws," Scalise said. "Don't try to put new laws in place that don't fix these problems. They only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to own a gun."