Supreme Court Upholds US Regulation of ‘Ghost Gun’ Kits (3)

The US Supreme Court upheld the federal regulation of built-at-home “ghost gun” kits, backing a rule put in place during the Biden administration to stem what officials said was a torrent of untraceable weapons.

The 7-2 decision keeps in force a 2022 rule that subjects commercially sold gun kits to the same requirements as fully assembled firearms, requiring serial numbers and background checks. The Trump administration, which took no position in the court case, will now inherit the regulation.

Writing for the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had authority to issue the rule under the 1968 Gun Control Act. The law “embraces, and thus permits ATF to regulate, some weapon parts kits and unfinished frames or receivers,” Gorsuch wrote.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Thomas said the majority “blesses the government’s overreach” by effectively rewriting the statute.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration said almost 14,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement officers and reported to ATF during a five-month period in 2023. Police say they found one such weapon with Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson last year.

The rule was challenged by a collection of manufacturers and gun-rights supporters led by Texas resident and former police officer Jennifer VanDerStok. They said the Biden administration was trying to expand the definition of a firearm beyond what Congress intended in the 1968 measure.

“We think it’s sad that our client, a former law enforcement officer, might be considered a criminal because of her hobby of building firearms,” said William Trachman, general counsel of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represented the challengers. He called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to rescind the regulation.

Asked to comment on the ruling, a Justice Department spokesperson said the department “will continue to support and defend the Second Amendments rights of all Americans.” The case didn’t involve the Constitution’s Second Amendment and focused solely the power given to ATF by Congress.

‘Murder Weapons’

Gun-safety groups hailed the ruling. “Striking down this rule would have meant unleashing untraceable murder weapons back into our communities, undoubtedly spiking violent crime,” said Kris Brown, president of the gun-violence prevention group Brady.

Supporters of the regulation included Everytown for Gun Safety, which is backed by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.

The law defines a “firearm” to include a weapon that “may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive,” as well as “the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” The frame or receiver is the part of a gun that houses the firing mechanism and other components.

The challengers said the kits don’t come with fully assembled frames or receivers, putting them outside the law’s ambit. A kit might require the removal of plastic tabs and the drilling of holes so that pins can be inserted.

The Biden administration said the challengers were trying to circumvent the decades-old law. During arguments in October, then-Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said the regulation was a response to a proliferation of kits that include “jigs” and “templates,” tools she said speed up the process of turning parts into an operable weapon.

The Supreme Court in 2023 said on a 5-4 vote that the regulation could stay in effect while the legal fight went forward. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals then concluded ATF had gone beyond its statutory authority.

The case bore similarities to the court’s 6-3 ruling last term to toss out a ban on bump stocks, the devices that let a semiautomatic weapon fire as rapidly as a machine gun.

The case is Bondi v. VanDerStok, 23-852 .

(Updates with reaction to ruling starting in seventh paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Greg Stohr

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