TACOMA, Wash. -- Residents can now legally carry and buy stun guns in Tacoma, after the city dropped its ban on the popular electroshock weapons Tuesday night.



The city council voted to repeal an ordinance that banned the purchase, carry and manufacture of stun guns within city limits, assistant city attorney Keith Echterling said.



Only law enforcement officers, department of corrections officers, animal control officers and military personnel were legally allowed to carry stun guns in Tacoma under the ban. Carrying a stun gun was punishable by up to a year in jail.



The ban's removal follows a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning rules prohibiting stun guns in Massachusetts. Echterling said the city received multiple requests from private security firms wishing to lawfully carry Tasers, and Second Amendment rights groups asking the ban on the weapon be dropped.



"Ultimately, the legal department made a recommendation to the council to remove the ban on stun guns," Echterling said.



Tacoma was one of the few cities in the area to ban the devices, Echterling said. The ordinance was imposed in 2006 following complaints of convenient stores selling a variety of weapons.



Some weapons --like butterfly knives -- are still banned in the city, Echterling said.