The Supreme Court announced Tuesday the Biden administration could continue to implement a rule regulating ghost guns after a lower court blocked the feds’ regulation.
Mr. Biden’s Justice Department asked the Supreme Court last month to resurrect a regulation on ghost guns that the feds say is necessary because the weapons have been used in “an explosion of crimes” nationwide.
A lower court had issued a decision vacating a rule implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would update the definition of firearm, permitting the requirement of a serial number to be added to ghost guns, among other restrictions related to gun sales.
The high court’s move on Tuesday grants the Biden administration’s request to put the lower court’s injunction on hold while the lawsuit plays out.
Four high court justices would not have allowed the feds to go ahead and implement the rule while the litigation was still pending. Those justices are: Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.
The district court, in prohibiting the rule’s implementation, reasoned that the ATF went beyond its authority directed by Congress in implementing the rule. That led to a nationwide order vacating the rule.
But the Biden administration said the regulation is necessary because police saw a 1,000% increase in the use of ghost guns to commit crimes from 2017 to 2021.
The guns are made from kits sold online. A person can use a tutorial video to assemble one in “as little as 20 minutes,” according to the feds.
“Some manufacturers of those kits and parts assert that they are not ‘firearms’ regulated by federal law, and thus can be sold without serial numbers, transfer records or background checks. Those features of ghost guns make them uniquely attractive to criminals and others who are legally prohibited from buying firearms,” wrote Elizabeth Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general, in the government’s filing.
The 5th Circuit had rejected the Biden administration’s request to vacate the lower court’s order and set oral arguments in the matter for September as the appeal is pending.
Gun owners, advocacy groups, and manufacturers and distributors of ghost guns challenged the regulation.
Roughly half a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the ATF rule, and most cases are still undecided. Two courts, according to the Biden administration‘s filings, rejected the challenges to the rule.
The lower court, in this case, decided to invalidate it.
In the district court, the lawsuits argued the executive branch violated the separation of powers trying to regulate ghost guns as if they were firearms.
They also said the feds violated the Administrative Procedure Act when issuing the ATF’s rule.
“Congress also did not give the agencies the authority to regulate the broad array of materials that may, at some point in the future, be manufactured into firearms by private individuals,” their complaint read.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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