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Supreme Court ghost gun decision overview:
- Who: A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices have allowed the Biden administration’s ghost gun ban to remain in effect.
- Why: The stay will remain in effect at least until an appeals court issues a ruling on the case.
- Where: The U.S. Supreme Court.
On August 8, the U.S. Supreme Court majority allowed the Biden administration’s “ghost gun” ban to remain in effect until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issues a ruling on the case, Law360 reports.
A Texas federal judge had issued an order vacating a rule by the U.S. Department of Justice related to ghost guns, which are reportedly assembled from kits and do not have serial numbers.
The Texas judge ruled that Congress did not intend for gun parts to be regulated under the Gun Control Act.
On July 27, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar sought a stay of the Texas judge’s order from the high court, claiming that vacating the ghost gun rule is “irreparably harming the public and the government by reopening the floodgates to the tide of untraceable ghost guns flowing into our nation’s communities.”
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanagh note that they would have denied the application for the stay.
After the Fifth Circuit rules on the ghost gun case, the parties may appeal the case to the Supreme Court for a decision. The high court may or may not decide to accept the case.
Ghost gun rule requires serial numbers and recordkeeping
In 2022, the Biden Administration created a rule titled “Definition of ‘Frame or Receiver’ and Identification of Firearms” in an effort to stop the proliferation of ghost guns. The rule requires ghost gun makers to keep records and include serial numbers so law enforcement can trace the firearms.
Gun groups have filed legal challenges to the administration’s ghost gun rule.
Prelogar says there has been an “explosion” recently in crimes involving ghost guns. In 2017, about 1,600 ghost guns were sent to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for tracing. The number has reportedly increased more than 1,000% over the next four years.
“Some will already be in the hands of criminals and other prohibited persons – and when they are inevitably used in crimes, they are untraceable,” Prelogar said in her July 27 request for the ghost gun ban to remain in effect.
“Those profound harms to public safety and law enforcement dwarf any harm a stay would impose on respondents.”
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled that defendants convicted in gun crimes can serve concurrent sentences instead of serving consecutive sentences.
What do you think of the Supreme Court ghost gun order? Tell us about it in the comments!
The U.S. government is represented by U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.
The ghost gun lawsuit is Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, et al. v. Jennifer Vanderstok, et al., Case No. 23A82, before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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