SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down a federal regulation that banned bump stocks, a device that allows semiautomatic rifles to fire rapidly.
The 6-3 vote, with the three liberal justices dissenting, ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives during the Trump Administration exceeded its authority by banning classified bump stocks as machine guns.
The ban went into effect after a gunman used the device to massacre dozens of people during a Las Vegas concert in 2017.
So, what does the ruling mean in San Diego and across California?
Leaders on both sides of the gun rights debate agreed that there is little change here because California - along with 15 other states - has a ban in place on bump stocks.
“It makes us less safe from gun violence. And I’m disappointed with that. Of course, this was a federal ban on bump stock," California Attorney General Rob Bonta told ABC 10.
Yet, he said the ruling allows bump stocks in 35 other states, including some neighboring California.
He noted California still has some of the toughest gun laws in the country to protect residents.
“We have universal background checks before you can purchase a gun. We have waiting periods. We have a ban on assault weapons. We have a ban on large-capacity magazines. We have red flag laws," Bonta said. "Many of these do not exist at the federal level."
Michael Schwartz has a different perspective.
The executive director of the San Diego County Gun Owners PAC applauded the Supreme Court ruling.
He agreed that while it will not affect California, it still does help local and statewide gun owners.
He said that's because the ruling puts more limits on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“This is going to be the beginning of a change in the relationship between the ATF and California gun owners," Schwartz said.
He said California gun shop owners "have seen the ATF agents here in California go unchecked.”
Both agreed that if a federal ban is to occur, it should come from Congress—not a federal agency making a national regulation.
On Friday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to do just that.
