San Diego, California – A US federal judge decided late on Friday to overturn California's ban on assault weapons, arguing it stood in violation of citizens' Second Amendment rights.

According to the Los Angeles Times, US District Judge Roger Benitez compared AR-15s to Swiss Army knives when pronouncing his decision, saying the semiautomatic rifles were "good for both home and battle."

California is one of only seven states that currently has a ban on assault weapons, and was the first to enact such a law in 1989.

Benitez, who was appointed by ex-Republican President George W. Bush, said it was unconstitutional to prohibit ownership of weapons allowed in most other states and by the Supreme Court.

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AR-15s have been used in some of the country's deadliest mass shootings, including at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

A survivor took to Twitter in response to the judge's decision, saying, "I can assure you – if a Swiss Army knife was used at Pulse, we would have had a birthday party for my best friend last week. Not a vigil."

California Governor Gavin Newsom also spoke out against the ruling: "Today’s decision is a direct threat to public safety and the lives of innocent Californians, period. The fact that this judge compared the AR-15 – a weapon of war that’s used on the battlefield – to a Swiss Army knife completely undermines the credibility of this decision and is a slap in the face to the families who’ve lost loved ones to this weapon."

Though Benitez's decision is likely to be shot down in an appeals court, gun safety advocates are concerned the conservative Supreme Court may take it as a chance to undermine assault weapon bans across the nation.

"The Supreme Court overturning these kinds of laws that are designed to promote public safety has huge negative implications, not only for assault weapons bans but for every public safety law that we have ever crafted to regulate guns," USC Gould School of Law Professor Susan Estrich told the LA Times.

She is "very concerned" about the ruling.