SCOTUS Found a Gun It Doesn't Like

The Supreme Court signaled again this week that it would allow the federal government to regulate so-called "ghost guns," despite legal challenges. In an unsigned order on Tuesday, the justices blocked a lower court ruling that had prevented a rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives targeting prefabricated gun-building kits from going into effect. The move cements a significant setback for gun rights advocates who hoped the high court might be more favorable toward the kits.

Court watchers have closely monitored how the justices will tackle gun-related cases in general in recent years. Unlike most areas of the law, the court is often breaking new ground when it involves itself in gun-related cases. Thanks to the court's rightward shift—as well as a recent ruling that created a new test for Second Amendment challenges—few legal issues are in as much flux before the court as this one.

Unlike most gun cases that reach the court, however, Vanderstok v. Garland is not a Second Amendment case. The plaintiffs instead asked the court to examine whether the ATF had correctly interpreted the Gun Control Act of 1968, or GCA, for its ghost-gun rule. The ATF issued a rule in 2022 that the GCA's definition of a firearm "shall include a weapon parts kit that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive." The Biden administration hailed the change as a step in cracking down on ghost guns.

"Ghost guns" is the colloquial name for homemade guns built from prefabricated kits. In the modern era, firearms are typically manufactured by commercial gunmakers and then sold intact to consumers. Federal law requires that every gun sold in the United States, with the exception of certain antique firearms, includes a serial number so that its ownership history can be tracked. .....