The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration rule regulating ghost guns—untraceable firearms without serial numbers—by a 7-2 vote. The decision allows the enforcement of serial number requirements, background checks, and age verification for the purchase of ghost gun kits.
In its ruling, the Court affirmed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has the authority to regulate these kits under the Gun Control Act of 1968, as the law defines firearms to include items that can be easily assembled or converted into working weapons.
The ATF’s 2022 rule, which classified ghost guns as firearms under the 1968 law, was implemented in response to growing law enforcement challenges posed by these untraceable weapons.
In June 2023, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas, acting on petitions filed by gun owners and manufacturers, ruled that the ATF had overstepped its authority by classifying ghost gun kits as firearms under the Gun Control Act. His decision struck down the regulation nationwide, blocking its enforcement.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld O’Connor’s ruling in November 2023, prompting the Biden administration to seek Supreme Court intervention.
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said: “the [Gun Control Act] authorizes ATF to regulate “any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.”
“A person without any specialized knowledge can convert a starter gun into a working firearm using everyday tools in less than an hour. And measured against that yardstick, the ‘Buy Build Shoot’ kit can be ‘readily converted’ into a firearm too, for it requires no more time, effort, expertise, or specialized tools to complete. If the one meets the statutory test, so must the other,” he concluded.
The justices voting in favor also included Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
In his dissent, Thomas argued that the rule exceeds congressional authority, asserting that unfinished frames and gun parts kits do not meet the legal definition of a “firearm.”
Federal data shows a sharp increase in ghost guns linked to crimes. Police recovered fewer than 1,700 in 2017, but that number surged to 27,000 in 2023. Since the ATF’s 2022 rule took effect, recoveries of ghost guns have declined in several major cities, and the manufacturing of related parts has dropped by 36%.
