Pritzker says bump stock ruling won’t affect Illinois

(The Center Square) – In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a ban on bump stocks, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the ruling should have no impact on Illinois but other states will take action. 

The bump stock ban was triggered by the deadliest mass shooting by one person in U.S. history when 60 people were killed in Las Vegas. The shooter used a bump stock.  

The nation’s highest court stated that bump stocks do not transform a firearm into an automatic weapon. The justices ruled that the ATF exceeded its authority when it classified bump stocks as machine guns.

The Gun Violence Prevention PAC Illinois released the following statement from President and CEO Kathleen Sances in response to the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the ban on dangerous bump stocks is a step in the wrong direction in our mission to end gun violence and protect Americans from more mass shooting tragedies. Congress must now act to address the bump stock ban at the federal level to extend the protections we have in Illinois to all Americans.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA) applauded the ruling, and said the decision will be pivotal to NRA’s challenges of ATF regulations.

Pritzker said Illinois lawmakers need not take action but elsewhere is a different story. 

“I do think it’s going to spur action at the state level as well as the federal level to try to once again ban bump stocks,” said Pritzker. “Here in Illinois we’ve already done that, we do not need to take action to fill in what the Supreme Court has taken away from other states.”

In 2018, President Donald Trump directed the Attorney General to “dedicate all available resources” to propose a rule to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns. Following the high court’s ruling, his campaign issued a statement. 

“The Court has spoken and their decision should be respected,” said Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt.