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The U.S. Supreme Court upheld federal rules from the Biden administration on “ghost guns” on Wednesday, which are mail-order kits that let people make weapons that can’t be tracked at home. This was a rare win for gun control groups at the conservative high court.
The opinion was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch for a 7-2 majority that included both liberal and conservative justices. This was one of the most closely watched Supreme Court cases of the year, CNN reported.
“Perhaps a half hour of work is required before anyone can fire a shot,” Gorsuch wrote. “But even as sold, the kit comes with all necessary components, and its intended function as instrument of combat is obvious. Really, the kit’s name says it all: ‘Buy Build Shoot.’
People who bought the guns and a few of the companies that made them challenged the rules put in place by the Biden administration in 2022. These rules say that companies that make “ghost guns” have to put serial numbers on the kits and check the backgrounds of people who buy them.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives made the new rules because police say that guns that can’t be tracked are showing up at crime scenes a lot more often. In 2017, police sent about 1,600 “ghost guns” found at crime scenes to be tracked down. After four years, there were more than 19,000 of them.
In his opinion, Gorsuch said that Americans’ views on guns have changed a lot since the Gun Control Act was passed by Congress in 1968.
“Recent years, however, have witnessed profound changes in how guns are made and sold,” Gorsuch wrote.
In 1968, the milling equipment and materials needed to make a gun at home were far too expensive for most individuals.
“With the introduction of new technologies like 3D printing and reinforced polymers, that is no longer true,” Gorsuch said. “Today, companies are able to make and sell weapon parts kits that individuals can assemble into functional firearms in their own homes.”
Even though it wasn’t about the Second Amendment, the case brought guns to the attention of the high court at a time when its 6-3 conservative majority has become more strict on gun laws.
A conservative majority on the Supreme Court overturned a ban on bump stocks last year. These are devices that can turn semi-automatic rifles into weapons that can fire hundreds of rounds per minute.
But there were signs that some conservative judges on the court did not agree with the majority’s view on this case as they did on the one about bump stocks. That the justices agreed with the Biden administration on its emergency docket gave us a hint of what they thought before the arguments even started. By a vote of 5-4, the court decided to keep the rule in place while the case went on.
