(Waukegan, IL) – Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart issued the following statement today after the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s “Bump Stock” ban. “Bump Stock Ban” had banned all devices that turn legal weapons into machineguns
“After the worst mass shooting in American history, where a gunman used a “bump stock” to kill 58 people and wound hundreds in Las Vegas, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) used its authority as a law enforcement agency to ban bump stocks. Across the country, we were safer the moment this regulation went into effect.
“But today, the Supreme Court ruled that banning bump stocks was not within the ATF’s authority. I wholeheartedly disagree with this partisan and extreme ruling. I trust the men and women of federal law enforcement to protect our communities.
“In her dissent against the ruling, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor said the Court’s 6-3 decision ‘enables gun users and manufacturers to circumvent federal law.’ This ruling is not only bad for our country, but it also hits home in Lake County, which continues to be devastated by its own experience with a mass shooting.
“We will not be safe in this country until we have a Congressionally-passed federal assault weapons ban. Today’s ruling is a step backward and casts a long shadow on efforts to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers, gang members, and mass shooters.”