A .22 caliber rifle was disassembled at North Raleigh Guns in Raleigh, northeast of the hill. (Photo11: Race Allen, AP)

The Trump administration may ban quick-fire firearms used to carry out the deadliest mass shot in US modern history, a federal judge announced on Monday that overturned one of the first lawsuits against this prohibition.

the The decision made by US District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington dismissed disputes over the prohibition of quick-fire attachment known as hump stocks a few weeks before its entry into force.

Friedrich rejected arguments that the rule had been rushed into the administrative process or that it had been improperly issued by Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker. She wrote that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had the right to redefine the ambiguous terms the government had previously concluded forced them to authorize the devices.

"The fact that this decision marks a reversal of the earlier interpretation of ATF does not constitute grounds for invalidating the rule, as the current interpretation of ATF is legal and ATF has correctly explained the change of interpretation, "wrote Dabney in a 64-page decision.

The Firearms Policy Coalition, one of the plaintiffs at the trial, denounced the ruling and vowed to appeal to rule "a rogue and growing executive power".

"We are disappointed but not surprised by the court's decision tonight to refuse a temporary injunction to protect the Americans from an illegal and unconstitutional settlement," the group said in a statement.

The case involved at least five federal prosecutions against the rule issued by the Department of Justice in December, after a year of taking into account public comments submitted to the ATF.

Friedrich also rejected the argument that the ban was illegal because it had been approved by former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, whose appointment last year had was criticized because it had not been approved by the Senate. She ruled that Trump had the power to appoint Whitaker.

Owners of these devices have until March 26 to melt, shred or crush their plastic accessories, allowing commercial semi-automatic rifles to fire almost as quickly as a machine gun. Another case in Michigan is holding a hearing next month on a similar request for an injunction.

An appeal to another court could allow for a more in-depth examination of constitutional issues, said Brandon Combs, chair of the Firearms Policy Coalition.

"I do not think anyone wants an executive power that can simply legislate fiat with anything it wants as a criminal sanction," Combs said. "It's a dangerous place for our republic to say that you can buy something someday, change your mind the next day and send you to jail."

A violation of the federal ban is accompanied by a fine of $ 250,000, in addition to a prison term of up to 10 years.

The Justice Department reexamined its approach to regulating shock stocks after a mass shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017, in which one armed man killed 58 people and wounded more than 800 others.

The government had long argued that only Congress could ban bump stocks. But pressure from President Trump and others following the shooting overturned the idea and concluded that it was possible to ban devices at $ 200 under existing firearms laws.

Bump Stock combines two legal devices, a plastic stock and a firearm, that work together like a machine gun. The bump stock exploits the recoil of the rifle to accelerate the trigger shots, technically "bumping" the trigger of each shot once it has bounced off the shooter's shoulder.

ATF stated that it was using its right to "re-examine and correct" past misclassification by modifying the way it considered "automatically" or "a single trigger function".

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