Wash. panel hears testimony on gun control bills

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – A couple who survived last year’s mass shooting in Las Vegas were among those asking a Senate panel to pass a slate of gun control bills that include measures to prohibit high capacity magazines and to ban so-called bump stocks, trigger modification devices designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a firearm.

Opponents to the measures told lawmakers on the Senate Law and Justice Committee that law-abiding gun owners will be punished by the bills.

Monday’s two-hour hearing drew nearly 1,000 people, leading security to set up additional overflow committee rooms for a mix of people wearing orange shirts or scarves and stickers “Gun Responsibility Now!” and others wearing shirts that read “NRA Stand and Fight.”

The Oct. 1 attack in Las Vegas was the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history. Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured hundreds more while firing from the Mandalay Bay Resort’s 32nd floor before killing himself as police stormed the suite.