High court to hear Biden ‘ghost gun’ regs
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Biden administration’s appeal of the ATF’s “frames and receivers” firearms rule which was previously overturned by a lower court, as the government works to preserve new gun regulations staunchly opposed by gun rights groups.
The 2022 rule came about, according to the Biden White House, in response to the increased use of homemade firearms, or “ghost guns” in the commission of crimes. These unserialized weapons have been blamed for an uptick in gun crimes, and law enforcement agencies have expressed concern over their inability to track them.
The high court justices agreed to leave the rule in place last summer as the appeals process played out, but on Monday indicated they would hear the Biden administration’s appeal of the November decision by 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold parts of a lower court ruling striking down the rule.
The Firearms Policy Coalition, one of the Second Amendment advocacy group behind the lawsuit, hailed the court’s decision to hear the case as a victory with potentially national implications.
“FPC and our members look forward to the end of President Biden’s unconstitutional and abusive rule. We are delighted that the Supreme Court will hear our case and decide this important issue once and for all,” FPC founder and President Brandon Combs said in a statement. “The Fifth Circuit’s
decision in our case was correct and now that victory can be applied to the entire country.”
FPC Action Foundation President Cody Wisniewski, who is representing the plaintiffs before the court, said the court’s decision to hear the case represents “an important day for the entire liberty movement.”
“By agreeing to hear our case, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to put ATF firmly in its place and stop the agency from unconstitutionally expanding its gun control agenda. We look forward to addressing this unlawful rule in the Court’s next term,” he said in a statement.
In announcing the rule in April of 2022, President Joe Biden said that “law enforcement is sounding the alarm” over so-called ghost guns and that regulations around homemade weapons would save lives.
That same month Attorney General Merrick Garland signed “Final Rule 2021R-05F” and sent it to be published in the Federal Register.
“The rule clarifies that the definition of ‘firearm’ includes a weapon parts kit that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive,” an overview of the Final Rule prepared by the ATF reads. “This change makes clear that many of the products currently marketed and sold as unregulated “80% kits” contain a “frame or receiver” that is regulated by Federal law.”