Posted March 27, 2025 | by KimS | in Biden Administration, DemDaily, Gun Control, Supreme Court

DemDaily: SCOTUS Keeps Ghost Guns in Check

March 27, 2025

In a landmark victory for gun safety advocates yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld Biden-era restrictions on the manufacture and use of deadly, untraceable firearms called "Ghost Guns" that can be assembled from components.

The 7-2 decision in Bondi v. Vanderstok overturned a lower court’s decision that the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had exceeded its authority in issuing a 2022 rule targeting weapons parts and kits for ghost guns.

The opinion, authored by conservative justice Neil Gorsuch, reaffirmed that the 2022 Biden-Harris administration ruling clarifies ghost guns as firearms subject to regulation by ATF under the Gun Control Act of 1968. That includes serial number registration of parts, background checks and age verification requirements for buying the kits online.

The ruling followed reports from law enforcement agencies that the homemade weapons were exploding in popularity and being used to commit serious crimes -- an increase of 1,000% in the six years before the rule was adopted.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 defines a “firearm” to include “(A) any weapon . . . which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; [and] (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3)

The Gun Control Act of 1968 defines a “firearm” to include “(A) any weapon . . . which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; [and] (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3)

Two gun rights groups -- the Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation, along with gun manufacturers, and individual gun owners -- sued to block the ATF rule in federal court in Texas.

A federal district judge in Fort Worth invalidated the rule in 2023, ruling that the ATF had impermissibly "rewritten the law" without congressional input -- a decision upheld by the conservative New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On October 3, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its stay on the nationwide injunction pending an appeal by the Biden administration. SCOTUS heard oral arguments October 8, 2024.

The ruling is a departure for the high court, which has taken an expansive view of gun rights.

In three major decisions since 2008, the conservative majority has extended gun rights, but shown a willingness to allow some limits. In two rulings last year, it upheld a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns, but rejected a federal rule banning "bump stocks" which enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito filed dissenting opinions, with Thomas arguing that the wording of the Gun Control Act of 1968 did not explicitly cover weapon parts.

The United States boasts a gun-related murder rate 26 times greater than that of other high-income nations and a firearms suicide rate eight times higher than any country. An average of 327 people are shot every day in the US, resulting in 125 daily deaths.

The United States boasts a gun-related murder rate 26 times greater than that of other high-income nations and a firearms suicide rate eight times higher than any country. An average of 327 people are shot every day in the US, resulting in 125 daily deaths.

DemList will keep you informed.

DemList
Connecting You to The Party
Connecting You to Each Other

Kimberly Scott
Publisher