The Biden administration sought to regulate kits for making untraceable weapons as if theyre regular firearms. Gun companies and groups went to court.
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/supreme-court-ghost-guns-ruling-regulation-vanderstock-rcna174759
The Supreme Court sided with the federal governments effort to regulate so-called ghost gun kits for making untraceable weapons.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion for seven justices upholding federal regulation, over dissent from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
During Joe Bidens presidency, the federal government argued that its regulation complied with federal law and was necessary because the weapons were increasingly being used in crimes. Challengers to the regulation, including gun rights groups and companies, claimed the government action exceeded the authority of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The regulation didnt seek to ban ghost guns but rather to regulate them like regular firearms, meaning that they need serial numbers, licensed dealers and background checks.
And though its a gun-related case, it didnt call for interpreting the Second Amendment.
Explaining the issue, Gorsuch noted that the federal Gun Control Act regulates firearms sales, and this case posed the question of whether the act also applies to people who make and sell the kits at issue. In reaching the majority ruling, the Trump appointee wrote that the relevant ATF rule isnt facially inconsistent with the act.
Three of the justices who joined Gorsuchs opinion Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson each wrote concurring opinions. Alito and Thomas each wrote their own dissents, with Thomas writing that the majority blesses the Governments overreach based on a series of errors regarding both the standard of review and the interpretation of the statute.
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