Chief justice rejects bid to block new ban on bump stocks

The Supreme Court is so far declining to stop the Trump administration from enforcing its ban on bump stock devices, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns. The ban took effect on Tuesday.   

Gun rights groups asked the court on Monday to keep the government from beginning to enforce the ban for now. Chief Justice John Roberts declined a request for the court to get involved Tuesday. A second request is pending in front of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. 

The administration is in the unusual position of arguing against gun rights groups. President Donald Trump said last year that the government would move to ban bump stocks -- an action that followed a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 where bump stocks were used. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) says on its website that people with "bump-stock-type devices must divest themselves of possession" as of Tuesday. 

"One option is to destroy the device," the federal agency says.

"Current possessors also have the option to abandon bump-stock-type devices at the nearest ATF office," it says.