Supreme Court upholds ghost gun rule 

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Supreme Court upheld a Biden-era gun regulation Wednesday, finding that weapons parts kits used to make ghost guns must comply with firearm laws.

In a 7-2 opinion, the high court ruled that a 2022 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule was consistent with the Gun Control Act of 1968, finding that ghost gun kits are clearly weapons as defined under the statute.

The do-it-yourself firearm parts kits are popular with individuals who can’t legally buy guns, like criminals and teenagers, because they can be purchased online without a background check and do not require serialization, making them nearly untraceable.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote in his opinion that the Gun Control Act was created in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, when guns were essentially untraceable.

Congress created a system of background checks and serial numbers that helped limit who could get weapons and track who obtained them.

“Recent years, however, have witnessed profound changes in how guns are made and sold,” Gorsuch wrote, noting that it used to be extremely difficult for people to build weapons at home. “With the introduction of new technologies like 3D printing and reinforced polymers, that is no longer true.”

Gorsuch pointed to an example kit, Polymer80’s “Buy Build Shoot,” which comes with all the parts needed to build a Glock-variant semiautomatic pistol in 21 minutes. He provided a before-and-after photo, which clearly shows a weapon that would fall under the Gun Control Act.

He compared the kit to an unfinished IKEA table, something people would still call a table even if it took hours of assembly before they could use it.

“Yes, perhaps a half hour of work is required before anyone can fire a shot,” Gorsuch said. “But even as sold, the kit comes with all necessary components, and its intended function as instrument of combat is obvious. Really, the kit’s name says it all: ‘Buy Build Shoot.’” 

Gorsuch was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Justice Clarence Thomas, a George H. W. Bush appointee, and Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, each issued a dissent.

Thomas pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision in *Garland v. Cargill * last summer, where the court held that bump stocks — attachments that allow a semiautomatic weapon to fire like an automatic one — did not classify a weapon as a machine gun.

In that case, Thomas said, the court was asked to rewrite the underlying statute so it could cover bump stocks, which it declined to do. The court was now asked to do the same.

“The statutory terms ‘frame’ and ‘receiver’ do not cover the unfinished frame and receivers contained in weapon-parts kits, and weapon-parts kits themselves to not meet the statutory definition of ‘firearm,’” Thomas wrote. “That should end the case.”

Law enforcement has reported a steep rise in ghost gun-related crime. According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, representing police executives in 70 cities, criminal incidents with ghost guns rose 408% between 2019 and 2021. The group saw a 240% increase in ghost gun ownership from people who couldn’t legally obtain a weapon and a 285% increase in use by people under 21.

In 2022, the Biden administration issued a new ruledefining gun parts kits as weapons under the Gun Control Act, forcing kit manufacturers to comply with federal regulations.

The Gun Control Act applies to any weapon that may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. To loop in ghost guns, the Biden administration added that readily completed weapons parts kits aimed at expelling a projectile by explosives are also firearms.

Essential firearm components themselves were already covered under federal rules, but gun owners and manufacturers accused the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of broadly expanding the reach.

Part kit manufacturers claim that their products appeal to gun hobbyists who enjoy assembling firearms. While they contested the kits fall under federal rules, the manufacturers said having to do manual labor like drilling a hole or requiring specialized tools disqualifies parts from being considered readily assembled weapons.

During oral arguments in October, then-U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said manufacturers’ goal was aimed at circumventing gun laws.

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