Supreme Court to decide if Biden administration can regulate 'ghost guns'
The Supreme Court will consider whether the Biden administration can regulate so-called ghost guns — firearms that can be assembled from online kits.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether the Biden administration can lawfully regulate so-called ghost guns — firearms that are made from kits available online that people can assemble at home.
The justices took up a Biden administration appeal in defense of regulations that a lower court invalidated. The provisions in question are currently in effect while litigation continues.
In August of last year, the Supreme Court allowed the regulation to be enforced on a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices in the majority.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued the regulations in 2022 to tackle what it claims has been an abrupt increase in the availability of ghost guns. The guns are difficult for law enforcement to trace, with the administration calling them a major threat to public safety.
"Ghost guns" seized in federal law enforcement actions at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives field office in Glendale, Calif., in 2022.Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images fileThe rule clarified that the parts used to make ghost guns fit within the definition of “firearm” under the federal Gun Control Act, meaning the government has the power to regulate them the same way it regulates firearms made and sold through the traditional process.
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