The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a bid by gun rights advocates to overturn a federal ban on bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire ammunition more rapidly.

The Trump administration outlawed the devices following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting in which a gunman used the rapid-fire accessory to carry out a massacre that killed 58 people and wounded hundreds in the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.

The administration faced swift legal challenges from gun owners and Second Amendment advocates after it began to regulate the device under a law that prohibits machine guns.

ADVERTISEMENT

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last April upheld the ban, saying the Trump administration’s treatment of the device as akin to a machine gun was reasonable, prompting an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The denial of the appeal means the requisite four justices did not agree to take up the case.

Justice Neil Gorsuch Neil GorsuchConservatives see glaring omission on Trump's Supreme Court shortlist Cruz says he wouldn't accept Supreme Court nomination Trump's Supreme Court list reveals influence of Clarence Thomas MORE said he agreed with the court's decision not to take up the case but issued a four-page statement to express concerns that the lower court had been unduly deferential to the Trump administration.