Biden uses SCOTUS bump stock ban ruling to tout gun control credentials in campaign ad

The U.S. Supreme Court last week issued a ruling that invalidated a Trump-era ban on bump stocks used with semiautomatic weapons, and the Biden administration -- and the president's re-election campaign -- is urging legislative action in response.

In the wake of the high court's decision, Biden is calling on Congress to codify the bump stock ban initiated by his Republican successor and, somewhat oddly, is using the situation as a cudgel in his bid for re-election, as The Hill reports.

Court overturns bump stock ban

It was on Friday that the Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 margin that the 2018 regulation banning bump stocks, implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), was the result of an unlawful overstepping of agency authority.

According to the majority, the ATF lacked the power to categorize guns accessorized with bump stocks in the same manner as machine guns, and therefore the rule required invalidation.

The rule at issue was promulgated in the aftermath of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left nearly 60 people dead and spurred calls for immediate action to curb gun violence.

It is worth noting that while the court held that the ATF simply lacked the authority to act in the manner it did, the justices on the majority suggested that the issue could be remedied by Congress via legislative amendment, as Courthouse News Service explains.

Biden enters fray

As The Hill notes, on Saturday, the Biden campaign launched a new advertisement boasting about the administration's commitment to gun violence prevention and taking aim at Trump for setting the table at the high court for last week's ruling.

In the campaign spot, Biden is heard declaring, “When Trump was president -- children gunned down in classrooms, innocent people killed in church and massacred at a concert. Still, Trump did nothing,” seeming to forget the fact that it was the former president's administration that implemented the bump stock ban that Biden's officials have since defended.

“You and your family deserve to be safe, and I'm going to fight like hell to see to it that you are,” Biden pledged in the ad.

Biden also issued a statement in the aftermath of the SCOTUS ruling that said, “I call on Congress to ban bump stocks, pass an assault weapons ban, and take additional action to save lives.”

“Send me a bill, and I will sign it immediately,” the president vowed.

Lawmakers weigh in

Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wasted little time in responding to the outcome at the high court, saying, “As I warned the Trump administration at the time, the only way to permanently close this loophole is through legislation. Senate Democrats are ready to pass legislation to ban bump stocks, but we will need votes from Senate Republicans.”

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, like Biden, called on Congress to take swift action and noted that he was prepared to collaborate “with any of my Republcian colleagues willing to do so.”

Several Republicans, however, lauded the court's ruling, with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) musing, “The Supreme Court reminds unelected bureaucrats that they don't get to infringe upon our Second Amendment rights by rewriting laws they don't like,” and that is a stance with which a large number of Americans will heartily agree.