The Supreme Court granted a request on Tuesday from the Biden administration to reinstate a federal regulation targeted at limiting the production of “ghost guns” that are difficult for law enforcement to trace.
By a 5-4 decision, the justices stalled a July 5 ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, which blocked the 2022 rule nationwide pending the administration’s appeal. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh said they would have denied the application for a stay.
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The Biden administration introduced the regulations last year to tackle what it cited as a dramatic uptick in the availability of ghost guns, which are known as firearm-making kits available online that people can assemble or sometimes even 3D print at home.
The regulations, implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, require creators or sellers of the kits to obtain a special license, mark products with traceable serial numbers, and conduct background checks while maintaining records. Those rules led to challenges in court, and so far, two federal judges have sided in favor of the government.
But O’Connor decided a case before his court differently, which involves plaintiffs Jennifer VanDerStok and Michael Andren, who own components they want to use to build guns. Other plaintiffs involved include makers and sellers of ghost guns, as well as other pro-gun groups.
“The Gun Control Act of 1968 reflects a fundamental policy choice by Congress to regulate the commercial market for firearms while leaving the law-abiding citizens of this Country free to exercise their right to make firearms for their own use without overbearing federal regulation,” their lawyer wrote in opposition to the government’s request. The “commercial production and sale of other items that may be used by private citizens to make firearms for their own use is outside the scope of the Act.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit later narrowed the decision but declined the government’s request to lift O’Connor’s nationwide block on the rules, teeing up the case for oral arguments in September. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar then asked the high court to step in.
The government has said in court filings that allowing O’Connor’s decision “to take effect would let tens of thousands of untraceable ghost guns flow into our Nation’s communities — with many going to felons, minors, or those intending to use them in crimes.”
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Prelogar also countered the plaintiffs’ argument, saying that their efforts were misleading because “there was no such thing as a ghost gun in 1968,” noting that they’ve only become more widely available in the past five years.
Alito temporarily paused the district court ruling on July 28 and renewed the pause on Aug. 4, extending it until Tuesday. The high court’s latest action means the Biden regulations can remain in place for now, at least until the appeal at the 5th Circuit and, if necessary, to the Supreme Court is resolved. Oral arguments at the appeals court are slated for Sept. 7.
