The justices asked questions about the meaning of the underlying federal law and how they should distinguish between firearms and their components.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Oct. 8 over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) attempt to apply federal gun control legislation in a way that would prohibit so-called “ghost guns.”
“Ghost guns” are generally understood to be untraceable firearms that lack serial numbers, were purchased by someone without a background check, and are potentially provided by a source other than someone licensed to do so.
The conservative justices raised questions about how to view a firearm’s components versus its entirety. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, considered more of a swing vote on the court, suggested that the attorney challenging ATF’s regulation was proposing a “made up” legal test.
In 2022, President Joe Biden’s administration attempted to crack down on ghost guns by implementing an ATF rule that interprets a longstanding federal law—the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968—as applicable to certain weapons kits, as well as items used to produce frames and receivers.
The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to reverse a U.S. Fifth Circuit ruling in Garland v. VanDerStok, which stated that ATF’s rule