Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. granted the Biden administration’s request to regulate ghost guns — for now — as the high court reviews the case, with a filing deadline set for next month.
Mr. Biden’s Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to resurrect a regulation on ghost guns that the feds say is necessary since 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 district court 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 says 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 Thursday.
The request was submitted to Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who oversees appeals from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 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.
Ahead of those arguments, the feds have asked the high court for permission to implement the rule while the case is ongoing.
Justice Alito granted that request in his Friday order, setting a filing deadline for briefs on the issue by Aug. 2, allowing ATF to enforce the rule temporarily through Aug. 4.
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.
But the lower court, in this case, decided to invalidate it.
In the district court, they 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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