WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court signaled on Tuesday a willingness to uphold the legality of a 2022 regulation issued by President Joe Biden’s administration cracking down on “ghost guns,” largely untraceable firearms whose use has proliferated in crimes nationwide.
The justices heard arguments in the administration’s appeal of a lower court’s decision declaring that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its authority in issuing the rule targeting parts and kits for ghost guns. These products can be bought online to be quickly assembled at home, without the serial numbers ordinarily used to trace guns or background checks on purchasers required for other firearms.
Plaintiffs including parts manufacturers, gun owners and gun rights groups sued to block the rule in federal court in Texas.
Based on their questions to the lawyers representing the administration and the plaintiffs, the justices appeared satisfied with the rule’s limits and reach. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
The rule clarified that these kits and components are covered by the definition of “firearm” under a 1968 federal law called the Gun Control Act.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts seemed skeptical that an unfinished frame or receiver — key components — of a firearm that requires merely the drilling of a hole to complete should not be considered covered by the Gun Control Act.
“What is the purpose of selling a receiver without the holes drilled in it?” Roberts asked Peter Patterson, the lawyer arguing for the challengers.
Patterson said that hobbyists want to “construct their own firearms,” just like other people who might work on their car every week.
“Well, drilling a hole or two, I would think, doesn’t give the same sort of reward that you get from working on your car on the weekends,” Roberts replied.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, defending the regulation, said the market for ghost guns is not comprised of hobbyists, but rather people who are prohibited by law from buying firearms, including minors, people previously convicted of violent crimes and those who want to commit crimes.
“What the evidence shows is that these guns were being purchased and used in crime. They were sold to be crime guns,” said Prelogar, who added that she “actually had the experience of putting one of these kits together.”
The regulation requires manufacturers of firearms kits and parts, such as partially complete frames or receivers, to mark their products with serial numbers, obtain licenses and conduct background checks on purchasers, as already required for other commercially made firearms.