Via the Washington Times:
An Ohio judge has permanently barred the city of Columbus from enforcing its ban on “bump stock” devices, saying the city’s recently passed ordinance violates the state Constitution.
A bump stock is a “component” of a firearm, and so the city’s ban violates state law that generally allows the possession of guns and associated parts absent a conflicting state or federal restriction, Franklin County Judge David E. Cain said in a ruling announced Friday.
…
In the Columbus case, Judge Cain said the city tried to argue that bump stocks are gun “accessories,” not parts, because they can be installed by the end user — which he said could result in a situation where the legality of the devices hinges on who installs them.
“If a person orders a bump-stock be placed on a rifle directly from the manufacturer, then under Columbus‘ logic, that bump-stock is now a component of the rifle,” he wrote.
“If the manufacturer installed the bump-stock, you are good,” he continued. “If you installed the bump stock, you go to jail. Two different results for possessing the same product. The logic fails.”
He said the case isn’t about the levels of gun violence in society, whether it’s morally right to ban bump stocks, or whether new gun restrictions related to domestic abusers will prevent gun violence.
“This matter is purely a legal matter,” he wrote. “It is solely about whether Columbus has the authority to enact the ordinances. That is all there is.”
A judge that interprets and enforces the law as written. Nice!
Columbus’s logic is no less ridiculous than a great number of the provisions of the NFA. Can we get a similar ruling on the NFA please?
The hue and cry about bump stocks since the Las Vegas murders is as logically inconsistent as the hue and cry about the killing of the lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe/ Rhodesia. That’s an awful lot of angst and adrenaline expended on something that no one knew even existed until the one incident.
Right??!
Well, I think so! My brothers and their Left-of-Mao wives are like trained monkeys, getting agitated about this week’s awful conservative action and forgetting about last month’s agitation.