US Supreme Court hearing challenge to Biden rule restricting ‘ghost guns’

The easy-to-assemble, difficult-to-trace weapons have increasingly been linked to crime.

The United States Supreme Court is considering a challenge to a Biden administration regulation restricting difficult-to-trace weapons known as “ghost guns“.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule is focused on gun kits that are sold online and can be assembled into a functioning weapon in less than 30 minutes. The finished weapons do not have serial numbers, making them nearly impossible to trace, but they have been increasingly linked to crime in recent years.

The Biden administration issued the rule in 2022 as part of a series of executive actions after the number of ghost guns seized by police around the country soared –  from fewer than 4,000 in 2018 to nearly 20,000 in 2021, according to Department of Justice data. Nearly 700 ghost guns were linked to murder or attempted homicide investigations during that time. The rule requires companies to treat the kits like other firearms by adding serial numbers, running background checks, and verifying that buyers are 21 or older.

“Those basic requirements are crucial to solving gun crimes and keeping guns out of the hands of minors, felons and domestic abusers,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“But in recent years, companies like the respondents here have tried to circumvent those requirements,” Prelogar said. “They’ve begun selling firearms as easy to assemble kits… that require minimal work to be made functional.”

“Those untraceable guns are attractive to people who can’t lawfully purchase them or who plan to use them in crimes,” Prelogar said. “As a result, our nation has seen an explosion in crimes committed with ghost guns.”

Peter Patterson, representing the gun manufacturers and gun rights groups objecting to the ATF rule, argued that the federal agency had exceeded its authority.

Patterson said that the kits were not weapons or firearms, and compared those using them to “individuals who enjoy working on their car every weekend”.

Many of the Supreme Court justices, who are expected to rule on the case before the end of the court’s term in June, were skeptical of the arguments presented by the groups bringing forward the case.

Overstepping authority

Biden has faced increasing pressure to act on gun control after a spate of mass shootings across the US during his presidency. The White House has repeatedly emphasised the need for congressional action on guns, but gun control proponents face an uphill battle in an evenly divided Senate, where Republicans are almost uniformly opposed to most proposals restricting access to guns.

Since the measure was introduced, the number of ghost guns has flattened or declined in several major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Baltimore, according to court documents.

But manufacturers and gun-rights groups have challenged the rule in court, arguing that it’s long been legal to sell gun parts to hobbyists and that most people who commit crimes use traditional guns.

They say the administration overstepped its authority.

“Congress is the body that gets to decide how to address any risks that might arise from a particular product,” a group of more than two dozen Republican-leaning states supporting the challengers wrote in court documents.

A federal judge in Texas agreed with the challenge, striking down the rule in 2023. An appeals court then largely upheld his decision, before the Supreme Court temporarily reinstated the rule last year.

The administration, on the other hand, argues that the law allows the government to regulate weapons that “may readily be converted” to shoot.

The appeals court’s decision would allow anyone to “buy a kit online and assemble a fully functional gun in minutes — no background check, records, or serial number required”, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in court filings. “The result would be a flood of untraceable ghost guns into our nation’s communities.”

Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group, wrote on social media on Tuesday that the ATF rule “is working” and called on the Supreme Court to uphold it and “treat ghost guns like the deadly firearms they are.”

“Lives are on the line,” the group added.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies