A major twist, the U.S. Supreme Court recently weighed in on the ongoing gun control battle sparked by the Biden administration’s concerns about ghost guns – homemade firearms that can be built without serial numbers, making them hard to trace.
The Biden administration had pushed for stricter rules to prevent these unregulated weapons from getting into the wrong hands, citing the growing worries about their potential use in criminal activities. But on November 2, 2023, the Supreme Court made a crucial decision that changed the game.
The Court put a pause on a lower court’s order that had initially blocked the implementation of the Biden administration’s rules on ghost guns. This decision means that President Joe Biden’s proposed restrictions on DIY firearms can move forward, marking a significant shift in the ongoing debate over the Second Amendment.
The unregistered and untraceable nature of ghost guns has raised concerns, and the government argued that imposing serial numbers and regulations on these firearms was necessary to enhance public safety and limit their spread.
The legal battle had revolved around whether the new rules conflicted with existing laws, especially as they extended to partially manufactured firearm components, related firearm products, and other tools and materials. This dispute eventually reached the Supreme Court.
It’s important to note that the Supreme Court’s decision wasn’t unanimous. Four conservative justices disagreed with the ruling, while three liberal justices, along with two conservatives, upheld the rule.
The Biden administration had urgently asked the Supreme Court to prevent a decision that could have invalidated all national federal regulations related to ghost guns. The regulations were introduced by President Biden to crack down on DIY gun kits, but they faced legal challenges, with a federal judge in Texas even declaring the regulations unconstitutional and ordering them to be revoked nationwide.
The Supreme Court’s decision had significant implications as it allowed the government’s ghost gun rules to remain in effect while the 5th Circuit heard an appeal of the injunction.
The ongoing legal battle focused on two key provisions: one regarding the inclusion of certain parts kits in the federal definition of a firearm, and the other concerning the definition of frame or receiver to include disassembled parts that could be easily converted into a functioning firearm.
