The Supreme Court decided in a 7-2 ruling to uphold a Biden-era rule that regulates “ghost guns,” or untraceable firearms.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the majority opinion, said the Gun Control Act of 1968 “embraces, and thus permits ATF to regulate, some weapon parts kits and unfinished frames or receivers, including those we have discussed.”
“Because the court of appeals held otherwise, its judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” Gorsuch wrote.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt, part of the three-judge panel in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, previously wrote that “an agency cannot label conduct lawful one day and felonious the next—yet that is exactly what ATF accomplishes through its Final Rule.”
Judge Andrew Oldham similarly wrote in the appeals court decision that “ATF’s overarching goal in the Final Rule is to replace a clear, bright-line rule with a vague, indeterminate, multi-factor balancing test. ATF’s rationale: The new uncertainty will act like a Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of American gun owners.”
Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito filed dissenting opinions on the March 26 ruling.
Thomas wrote in his dissent: “The statutory terms ‘frame’ and ‘receiver’ do not cover the unfinished frames and receivers contained in weapon-parts kits, and weapon-parts kits themselves do not meet the statutory definition of ‘firearm.’”
“That should end the case,” he asserted. The majority instead blesses the Government’s overreach based on a series of errors regarding both the standard of review and the interpretation of the statute.”
