Supreme Court to consider ghost guns rule amid rising gun violence concerns

The Supreme Court is set to weigh in on a pivotal case regarding the Biden administration’s regulation of ghost gun untraceable firearms assembled from kits or 3D printers amid claims that the rule has reduced crime in major U.S. cities.

The case, Garland v. VanDerStok, centers not on Second Amendment rights but on whether the administration overstepped its authority when issuing the regulation through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

Ghost guns, which can be assembled quickly without background checks, have surged in popularity. In New York and Baltimore, for example, law enforcement agencies have reported a drop in the recovery of ghost guns, the first such decrease in several years. “The government has a much stronger case here that the products the challengers are selling should be covered under a plain reading of the Gun Control Act,” says David Pucino, deputy chief counsel at Giffords Law Center.

The court will decide whether the 2022 regulation, which redefines “firearm” to include parts kits that can be readily converted into functional guns, exceeds the ATF’s legal authority. The outcome could reshape federal gun regulations and the way firearms are sold across the U.S.

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This case mirrors previous disputes over federal regulations, most notably the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump-era rules banning bump stocks. That decision, viewed as a limitation on agency power, hints at a complex road ahead for ghost gun regulations. However, legal experts suggest this case may hinge on different factors. Andrew Willinger, of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, notes that ghost gun kits are “firearms in natural parlance,” and believes key conservative justices could swing the decision in favor of upholding the regulation.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the administration, likened ghost gun kits to Ikea furniture, arguing that gun kits designed for assembly should fall under the same legal obligations as fully built firearms. “A company in the business of selling kits that can be assembled into working firearms in minutes… is in the business of selling firearms,” she argued.

With the decision expected by June 2025, this case could set a new precedent for firearms regulation in America.