California judge rejects part of ATF’s ghost gun regulation

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — The state of California struck a blow against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in a fight over the regulation of untraceable homemade guns when a federal judge on Monday morning ruled that parts of the bureau’s rules were unlawful.

The state, along with the Giffords Law Center and others, sued ATF in 2020, demanding that the bureau crack down on weapon trading that skirts mandates on background checks and age verification. Ghost guns lack serial numbers and are purchasable without a background check.

While the untraceable weapons have been a target of state regulators and the Biden administration, ATF does not consider ghost guns to be firearms because a central component, the receiver or frame of the weapon housing all of its internal components, is not finished.

California argues that, under the Gun Control Act, a receiver or frame can be considered a firearm because such pieces are “designed to or may readily be converted” into functional weapons. The state calls ghost guns the “weapon of choice” for gun traffickers, gangs and political extremists, and says the Golden State has had to incur significant costs to regulate the guns because ATF is not doing so.

Litigation was paused in 2021 following several mass shootings when the White House announced that it intended to issue a rule to help stop the proliferation of ghost guns. In April 2022, ATF released a final rule in saying the terms “frame” and “receiver” shall include “a partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional frame or receiver designed to be completed … but shall not include a forging, casting or unmachined body that is not clearly identifiable as an unfinished component part of a weapon.”

The plaintiffs argued the final rule helped to eliminate ghost gunmaking kits, but still allows the sale of so-called "80%" receivers and frames as standalone items, making the rule arbitrary and capricious.

Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Chen agreed with that argument as it pertains to a portion of the final rule, "Example 4," which states that a “billet or blank of an AR-15 variant receiver without critical interior areas having been indexed, machined, or formed that is not sold, distributed, or possessed with instructions, jigs, templates, equipment, or tools such that it may readily be completed” is not a receiver.

Chen wrote that ATF failed to take into account all factors related to the “readily” assessment, such as time and the easy availability of jigs and tools that could turn an incomplete receiver into a receiver, thus creating a firearm. The term "readily" is defined as "a process, action, or physical state that is fairly or reasonably efficient, quick, and easy, but not necessarily the most efficient, speediest, or easiest process, action, or physical state.”

“ATF has simply disregarded the ease by which tools/jigs are available (from whatever source) which would render a receiver blank ‘readily convertible’ to a completed receiver," Chen wrote in his 46-page opinion vacating Example 4.

The judge also found that federal regulators' argument that already existing criminal law could be applied to those that skirt the rules failed to address the issues that render the regulation arbitrary and capricious, and said the plaintiffs proved they were likely harmed by the lack of regulation of ghost guns, refuting ATF's argument that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.

“The court further finds that ATF acted arbitrarily and capriciously with respect to its categorical determinations that AR-type partially complete receivers that are not indexed or machined and not sold with, e.g., a jig or tools are not firearms for purposes of the GCA,” Chen wrote.

Chen enjoined the ATF from enforcing Example 4 and remanded the matter to the bureau.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office praised the ruling.

"Right now, in much of the country, do-it-yourself ghost gun kits allow anyone with a credit card and an internet connection to purchase and build a fully operable, untraceable weapon in minutes with little to no restriction," the office wrote in a prepared statement.

"In California, we know this is a problem, which is why we have taken steps to end this practice. We are pleased that today’s decision recognizes the important role of the federal government in regulating these weapons to prevent their spread across state lines."

The ATF did not return a request for comment.

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