The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Biden administration rule regulating “ghost guns,” untraceable firearms assembled from kits that have been increasingly linked to violent crimes.
In a 7-2 decision, the top court ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) may enforce requirements that these kits be treated like traditional firearms, subject to serial numbers, sales records, and background checks.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, writing for the majority, stated that the 2022 ATF rule aligns with the Gun Control Act of 1968, which defines firearms to include partially assembled weapons that can be “readily converted” to functional guns.
The decision reverses a lower court ruling that had blocked enforcement of the regulation.
Gorsuch, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, emphasized that some ghost gun kits—such as Polymer80’s “Buy Build Shoot” kit—clearly meet the legal definition of a firearm.
“An ordinary speaker might well describe the ‘Buy Build Shoot’ kit as a ‘weapon,'” Gorsuch wrote, noting that assembling it requires minimal effort. He acknowledged that not all kits may qualify but declined to issue a blanket exemption.
Arch-conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.
Thomas argued that the majority had improperly expanded the definition of a firearm, asserting that Congress—not the ATF—must clarify the law.
“Congress could have authorized ATF to regulate any part of a firearm,” Thomas wrote, “but it did not.”
Alito, in a separate dissent, criticized the majority for applying a broad legal test rather than evaluating specific cases, suggesting the issue should have been remanded for further review.
While the logic employed by Thomas and Alito would have made it virtually impossible to protect public safety, the decision is a significant win for gun control advocates, who argue that ghost guns—often sold without background checks—have fueled a surge in untraceable weapons used in crimes.
According to the Justice Department, law enforcement recovered over 19,000 ghost guns at crime scenes in 2021, compared to 1,600 in 2017.
The ruling will ensure that ghost guns – unserialized and untraceable firearms often used by prohibited persons such as domestic abusers, gun traffickers, and others who cannot legally possess firearms – will continue to be regulated as traditional firearms.
The Supreme Court noted in its ruling that criminals had found ghost gun kits attractive, and that ghost guns had forced police departments to confront an “explosion of crimes” involving these highly dangerous weapons.
“This ruling is a huge win for public safety,” said David Pucino of the Giffords Law Center.
“Ghost guns are the gun industry’s way of skirting commonsense gun laws and arming dangerous people without background checks,” said Pucino. “We’ve seen how the rise in ghost guns has contributed to increases in crime and gun deaths in communities across the United States.”
“If you can’t pass a simple background check, you shouldn’t have a gun or be able to build one of these dangerous weapons in your basement,” said New Jersey gun control advocate Lisa McCormick. “Today’s Supreme Court decision is a victory for common sense, public safety, plus law and order.”
“Today represents a massive win in the fight for public safety and common sense,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization.
Gun violence in America is now the leading cause of death for children and teens. Every day, more than 300 people are shot across the country and more than 100 are killed.
Gun rights groups, however, expressed disappointment, with plaintiffs’ attorney William Trachman calling the regulation an overreach.
The ruling marks a departure from recent Supreme Court trends favoring gun rights, including the 2022 Bruen decision, which struck down restrictive carry laws.
However, the court has also upheld some regulations, such as a federal ban on firearms for domestic abusers.
Common sense regulation opponents may now turn to Congress or future litigation to challenge the rule’s application.
While gun violence in the U.S. surged under President Donald Trump’s first term, in his first days back in office, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention was eliminated.
A mass shooting last week left three dead and more than a dozen injured in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
In New Jersey, Trenton police are investigating a late-night shooting on Walnut Avenue and Cook Place, where a man was shot in the shoulder and taken to Capital Health Trauma Center in stable condition.
The case, Bondi v. VanDerStok, underscores the ongoing legal and political battle over gun regulations as ghost guns continue to proliferate nationwide.