The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Biden administration’s regulation of ghost guns, the largely untraceable firearms that had been used in a growing number of crimes over the last decade and alarmed law enforcement agencies, the Washington Post reports. In a 7-2 ruling, the justices allowed 2022 rules by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that require serial numbers, sales receipts and background checks for the weapons, which are typically purchased in kits online and assembled at home. The decision could be considered a departure for the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, which has been skeptical of gun regulation in recent terms. The justices issued a landmark decision in 2022 that it made it easier to challenge restrictions on firearms.
In the ghost gun case, the justices ruled the weapons, which are sold partially assembled, count as firearms under the 1968 Gun Control Act, which means they can be regulated in the same way as other commercially available guns. The case did not implicate the right to bear arms that is enshrined in the Second Amendment. During oral arguments in October, then-Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar said striking down the Biden-era rules would be dangerous, allowing people banned from purchasing firearms — such as felons — to easily buy guns online. She said it would also be more difficult to solve crimes since ghost guns typically can’t be traced back to their owners. “Our nation has seen an explosion in the crimes committed by ghost guns,” Prelogar told the justices. Police submitted about 1,800 ghost guns for tracing in 2016, according to the Justice Department. Those numbers climbed to 19,000 in 2021, the last year before the new regulations went into effect. Less than 1 percent of ghost guns were traceable, however, before they were required to be stamped with serial numbers. The guns submitted for tracing in 2021 were linked to nearly 700 homicides or attempted homicides.
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