COLUMBUS — A city of Columbus law banning a gun accessory that allows semi-automatic weapons to be fired rapidly has been overturned by a judge as unconstitutional.
The Columbus Dispatch reports Franklin County Judge David Cain
upheld a law that allows Columbus to charge some people convicted of violent felonies with misdemeanors for being in possession of a firearm, a partial victory City Attorney Zach Klein called “a huge win for common-sense gun regulations.”
“Protecting our friends and neighbors from criminals with guns should be something we can all rally around and we hope this law can serve as a roadmap for other cities working to enact local gun regulations,” he said.
Cain ruled Friday that municipalities can’t regulate gun accessories like bump stocks under state law because they are considered a “component” of the firearm, but Klein maintained the ban is legal.
“We remain confident that bump stocks are an accessory that we have the legal authority to regulate in our city,” Klein said.
Two Ohio pro-gun groups sued Columbus after it enacted the ban in May.
Bump stocks drew wide attention last year when a gunman in Las Vegas killed 58 people attending a music festival.
Authorities said some of the semi-automatic rifles Stephen Paddock used that night where outfitted with bump stocks that essentially turned them into automatic weapons.