Uploaded February 2018 | Updated September 2026, 39 minutes ago
Wash. couple who survived Las Vegas shooting helped fight for state's bump stock ban
ULTAN, Wash. - A Sultan couple who survived the Las Vegas shooting last fall has been urging state lawmakers to support a bump stock ban.
Not a day goes by that Alicia and Nick Johnston don't think about the bullets flying at that fateful concert in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017.
They think about the bullet that pierced her back and the other bullet that missed her husband and killed a man next to him instead.
“It sinks like, ‘Oh my God, I'm at the center of a Terror attack and we might die,’" said Alicia Johnston. “How would you feel if your family member was going through this? Nobody should have to worry about their children their or loved ones, going out to enjoy something they love and possibly not coming home.”
That's why the family supported lawmakers passing a bill Tuesday to ban trigger devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire more rapidly called bump stocks.
They are the same devices Steven Paddock used in the shooting in Las Vegas to allow his semi-automatic rifles to fire more like machine guns.
The measure received a final 31-18 vote in the Senate Tuesday after the chamber accepted changes made by the House, which passed the bill on a 56-41 vote Friday. The House amended the bill with a provision that would allow the Washington State Patrol to set up a yearlong "buy back" program for people who already own the devices.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee praised the legislature in a tweet Tuesday afternoon, calling it a, "modest, common sense piece of legislation that will help prevent further gun violence."
Alicia Johnson has been to Olympia with her brother who testified during the bump stock ban hearings.
As gun owners, the Johnstons said if banning the tool means saving more lives, then it's the step in the right direction.
“We are gun owners. We're human. We hunt. We want to protect our families within our homes,” said Johnston. “But to what extent do you need these tools that make it easy to devastate lives?”
READ MORE @
komonews.com/news/local/wash-couple-who-survived-las-vegas-shooting-urges-lawmakers-to-support-bump-stock-ban
Wash. couple who survived Las Vegas shooting helped fight for state's bump stock ban
ULTAN, Wash. - A Sultan couple who survived the Las Vegas shooting last fall has been urging state lawmakers to support a bump stock ban.
Not a day goes by that Alicia and Nick Johnston don't think about the bullets flying at that fateful concert in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017.
They think about the bullet that pierced her back and the other bullet that missed her husband and killed a man next to him instead.
“It sinks like, ‘Oh my God, I'm at the center of a Terror attack and we might die,’" said Alicia Johnston. “How would you feel if your family member was going through this? Nobody should have to worry about their children their or loved ones, going out to enjoy something they love and possibly not coming home.”
That's why the family supported lawmakers passing a bill Tuesday to ban trigger devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire more rapidly called bump stocks.
They are the same devices Steven Paddock used in the shooting in Las Vegas to allow his semi-automatic rifles to fire more like machine guns.
The measure received a final 31-18 vote in the Senate Tuesday after the chamber accepted changes made by the House, which passed the bill on a 56-41 vote Friday. The House amended the bill with a provision that would allow the Washington State Patrol to set up a yearlong "buy back" program for people who already own the devices.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee praised the legislature in a tweet Tuesday afternoon, calling it a, "modest, common sense piece of legislation that will help prevent further gun violence."
Alicia Johnson has been to Olympia with her brother who testified during the bump stock ban hearings.
As gun owners, the Johnstons said if banning the tool means saving more lives, then it's the step in the right direction.
“We are gun owners. We're human. We hunt. We want to protect our families within our homes,” said Johnston. “But to what extent do you need these tools that make it easy to devastate lives?”
READ MORE @
komonews.com/news/local/wash-couple-who-survived-las-vegas-shooting-urges-lawmakers-to-support-bump-stock-ban
