Courts stop Cincinnati's bump stock ban

Cameron Knight | Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati's bump stock ban was temporarily blocked in court Tuesday.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman granted a temporary injunction to two 2nd Amendment activist groups who opposed the ban.

A hearing about a possible permanent injunction will take place Oct. 22. If Ruehlman grants the permanent injunction, the ban will effectively be overturned.

A similar ban passed in Columbus was struck down in the courts earlier this month.

Bump stocks mount to semi-automatic rifles and can allow an increased rate of fire similar to fully-automatic weapons. The devices gained notoriety when they were allegedly found in the hotel room of Stephen Paddock after 58 people were killed in Las Vegas in October.

In May, Cincinnati passed an ordinance banning the devices despite warnings from Second Amendment activists that the city would face a lawsuit. It was a promise the Buckeye Firearms Association and Ohioans for Concealed Carry kept.

The legislation's creator, Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, said: "There comes a time when people need to decide if some perverted interpretation of the Second Amendment granting anyone the right to own what's basically a machine gun overrides the right of people to stay alive."

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Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticut, Columbia, South Carolina and Denver, Colorado have all passed legislation banning bump stocks.

But Ohio law states residents "without further license, permission, restriction, delay, or process, may own, possess, purchase, sell, transfer, transport, store, or keep any firearm, part of a firearm, its components, and its ammunition” in accordance with state and federal law.

The Buckeye Firearms Association says that law overrides any local decisions on the matter of firearms, meaning Ohio cities cannot pass laws tightening or loosening gun regulations established at the state and federal level.

In a 15-page motion with more than 100 pages of supporting material, the City of Cincinnati argued that a bump stock is a firearm accessory, not a component. The city also said Ohio's home rule laws for cities would be violated by overturning the ordinance.

The motion called gun violence an "infuriating crisis plaguing our country.

“The City of Cincinnati has had enough,” the motion states. “Rejecting chronic federal and state governmental inaction, the citizens of the [city], through their elected officials, have taken action.”

The association along with Ohioans for Concealed Carry sued Cincinnati and Columbus in June over bump stock bans in both cities.

"This really isn't about bump stocks," said Dean Rieck, executive director of the association. "It's about the rule of law in Ohio. Cities can pass all kinds of laws, but they can't pass gun laws. We thought everyone understood that by now, but apparently not."

Attorney General Mike DeWine filed an amicus brief in the case against Cincinnati's bump stock banning stating that Ohio needs to have consistency in its laws across the state.

Two Cincinnati council members voted against the ordinance. Amy Murray agreed with the Second Amendment group saying the ordinance violates state law. Jeff Pastor told his colleagues they "voted to get the city sued while facing a $30 million deficit."

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and President Donald Trump have both discussed the idea of banning the devices. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which can regulate firearm accessories, has previously allowed the devices to be sold nationally. But in March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions proposed amending the ATF rules concerning bump stocks.