Large Gun Show Slated For Delaware Valley As Gun Debate Heats Up
OAKS, Pa. (CBS) -- One of the larger gun shows on the East Coast is coming to the Delaware Valley on the heels of the Las Vegas massacre.
Organizers of "Guntoberfest" said they know the show is coming at a sensitive moment in time and answered questions about guns and gun safety directly.
"It's a very tough thing in this country to discuss guns but conversation has to be had obviously," Patrick McCarthy said.
Currently, the conversation is centered on a weapon accessory known as a bump stock. A bump stock turns a semiautomatic weapon, where the trigger need to be squeezed each time for each bullet, into a simulated automatic weapon where one trigger pull can spray dozens of rounds.
Police: Woman Abducted, Raped At Bucks County Park
Investigators found bump stocks in the room of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, some were attached to weapons. There are no laws restricting the sale of bump stocks in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
However, in New Jersey the longstanding assault weapons ban actually mean attaching and using a bump stock could turn a legal weapon into an illegal weapon.
On Wednesday, Democratic senators, including Pennsylvania's Bob Casey, proposed a ban on bump stocks.
McCarthy admits he is no expert on bump stocks, but said generally any gun safety measures certainly should be a conversation worth having in the wake of what happened.
CDC: 40 Percent Of US Cancer Cases Linked To Being Overweight
"Right now it always seems like when an unfortunately incident like this happens one side wants to ban guns, the other side doesn't want to do anything," McCarthy said. "I think we have sit down and have a rational discussion about where we go forward in this country."
A bump stock ban was part of a larger proposed weapons ban proposed in 2013.
The measure was defeated in the Senate receiving just 40 votes.
