Supreme Court to weigh legality of Biden administration's ghost guns rule

Source: CBS News

Updated on: October 7, 2024 / 2:16 PM EDT


Washington — The Supreme Court will convene Tuesday to consider a challenge to the Biden administration's efforts to regulate untraceable firearms known as ghost guns, as major American cities report the measure seems to have caused a reduction in the use of these weapons within their borders. The court fight involves a 2022 regulation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that sought to ensure the difficult-to-trace weapons known as ghost guns are subject to the same requirements as commercial firearms sales.

The issue before the justices is not whether Second Amendment rights were violated, but rather if the Biden administration went too far when it issued the rule. The case may sound similar to one before the high court in its last term that involved a ban on bump stocks put in place during the Trump administration. In that instance, the Supreme Court's conservative majority invalidated the regulation that outlawed the devices, finding that the ATF exceeded its authority by issuing a rule that classified a bump stock as a "machine gun."

But legal experts say the Supreme Court's ruling four months ago may not be a harbinger of whether the ghost gun regulation will fall, and in this case, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, two members of the court's conservative wing, will be the key members to watch.

"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," said David Pucino, deputy chief counsel and legal director at Giffords Law Center, which is urging the Supreme Court to uphold the rule. "The products are readily convertible into firearms."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-legality-biden-ghost-guns-rule/