CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- Gun legislation could be on the brink of change in the state of Florida. After law officials confirmed Tuesday that 23 semiautomatic rifles were legally modified to fire like automatic weapons using a "bump stock" accessory, the debate surrounding stricter gun laws has increased.
In order to buy a firearm, you need to be 18 years and old, have a valid form of identification and have clean criminal background. However, a bump stock can be purchased without a background check.
Wednesday, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson sponsored "legislation to ban so-called bump stocks," according to his team's press release.
"I'm a hunter and have owned guns my whole life," Nelson said, "But these automatic weapons are not for hunting, they are for killing. And this commonsense bill would, at the very least, make it harder for someone to convert a semi-automatic rifle into what is essentially a fully-automatic machine gun."
However, not all agree the Senator's legislation will make a difference.
Congressman Francis Rooney says it's not a gun problem as much as a society problem.
Even without one of those stocks this Paddock guy would’ve been able to do the same amount of damage and that guy passed background checks and you know as fringed as anybody else," he explained. "So I don’t think tightening up the gun laws are going to stop a madman like this Paddock guy... something is going wrong in our society."
When asked what changes outside of creating stricter gun laws could be done, Rooney said, "I don't know, but changing the laws aren't the answer."
