NRATV all but ignored the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, NV, that left at least 58 dead and over 500 injured.

The National Rifle Association’s broadcast outlet weighed in on the anniversary only once, mentioning it to attack the idea of a ban on bump stocks -- a firearm accessory that allowed the Las Vegas gunman to fire his rifles at nearly machine gun rate -- by claiming “criminals will still find ways around the ban.” During the October 1 edition of NRATV’s Stinchfield, host Grant Stinchfield said the NRA is “fine … with letting the ATF regulate them” but that it “won’t solve the real problem.” He went on to say, “Violent people exist and they will always find ways to kill.”

GRANT STINCHFIELD (HOST): One year ago today, a massacre unfolded in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the worst crimes ever in America. Today I, like so many, want answers. Why? How? And what could we have done to stop the madman who opened fire on that concert from his perch in his hotel room from across the street? It’s odd, really, that we still have very little answers. Nothing makes sense when you look at the man who committed the crime and you try to come up with a motive. Here’s what I do know: No new law would have stopped him. I also know the victims are their families are still hurting. They are ingrained in my mind -- I will never forget the horror on their faces, and I still pray for them today. Also today, the left-wing media continued to focus on what? Bump stocks. Just moments ago the media got the president to announce bump stocks are quote “gone, done,” he says. He said that in a news conference at the White House. I’m fine, just as the NRA is, with letting the ATF regulate them like machine guns. But let’s not kid ourselves -- even that won’t solve the real problem. Violent people exist and they will always find ways to kill. Still, the president acknowledged that being done with bump stocks involves a process, which also includes public comment and the like. Let’s let the process play out. But make no mistake: If you ban bump stocks, criminals will still find ways around the ban. Just because they’re deemed illegal doesn’t mean criminals will stop using them.    

In the days following the Las Vegas shooting, the NRA deceptively offered its support for a bump stock ban by calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to “review” the legality of the devices. The ATF previously said it does not have that authority -- that it’s reserved for Congress -- but in March 2018, the DOJ and the ATF declared “that the agency can ban bump stocks under current law.”

The Department of Justice has proposed a rule that would ban “the manufacture, importation and possession of bump stocks” and would require “anyone owning one … to destroy it.” The rule is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget. During an October 1 press conference, President Donald Trump said bump stocks would be banned “over the next couple of weeks,” though the the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Trump asked the DOJ to write regulations in February and that the White House said the approval process “takes about a year.”  

Stinchfield previously claimed Congress will “start with bump stocks” and “end with an all-out assault on the Second Amendment.”