Name: Supreme Court Upholds Biden-Era 'Ghost Gun' Regulation
Uploaded: 2025-03-27T10:53:09.000Z
Description: The Supreme Court voted 7–2 on March 26 to uphold the Biden administration’s rule regulating so-called ghost guns that can be constructed at home.

Sam Wang is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Sam covers politics on Capitol Hill, and U.S.-China relations. 

Sam Wang

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the U.S. and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

Citizens Honor Police for Their Service and Sacrifice

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

Trump ‘Projecting American Influence and Leadership’ on Iran Issue in Beijing: China Expert

Chris Bob is a reporter for NTD and a host of "Profiles of Service." He is also a small business owner. Chris graduated from Union College with a concentration in politics and religion in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Chris Bob

Senate Panel Advances Crypto Regulation Bill

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

Lawmakers Weigh ‘Sanctuary’ Polices After Woman’s Death in Virginia

Christina Corona is a California-based reporter for NTD News. She primarily covers California news, politics, and entertainment.  

Christina Corona

Bonta Announces Major Fentanyl Bust in California

Arian Pasdar is an international correspondent for NTD News based in South America. His reporting focuses on immigration and key events in Latin America.

Arian Pasdar

CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper Praises Trump's Military Actions

David Lam is a national correspondent based in California and a part-time anchor for "NTD Tonight." Before joining NTD he was a financial analyst.

David Lam

Lawyers in OpenAI Trial Give Closing Arguments

Eva Fu is a New York-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. politics, U.S.-China relations, religious freedom, and human rights. Contact Eva at eva.fu@epochtimes.com

Eva Fu

Jack Bradley is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Jack previously anchored "NTD Newsroom" and worked as an assistant producer for the show. 

Jack Bradley

China News

Organ Harvesting in China

Congressional Hearing Spotlights Forced Organ Harvesting in China

Dave Martin is NTD's Senior Sports Reporter and sports analyst. He also hosts "Data Hub" segments during NTD's special election coverage, "The Nation Decides."

Dave Martin

Report: Giants WR Nabers Had 2nd Procedure on Knee

Xavier Becerra Leads New California Governor Poll

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 14)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 11)

Don Ma is an anchor and senior business correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Don is the anchor and producer of NTD's "Business Matters," which airs weekdays at 4:30 pm ET.

Don Ma

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 10)

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 9)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

The Supreme Court voted 7–2 on March 26 to uphold the Biden administration’s rule regulating so-called ghost guns that can be constructed at home.

The majority <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-852_c07d.pdf#:~:text=SUPREME%20COURT%20OF%20THE%20UNITED%20STATES%20JUSTICE,and%20sell%20a%20new%20product%E2%80%94%E2%80%9Cweapon%20parts%20kits.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">opinion</a> in Bondi v. VanDerStok was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Gorsuch was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kavanaugh each filed concurring opinions.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each filed dissenting opinions.

In October 2023, the Supreme Court reinstated the rule, which lower courts had blocked.

“Ghost gun” is a pejorative term used by gun control advocates to describe a homemade firearm that lacks a serial number and therefore can’t be tracked by law enforcement.

Although some states regulate homemade guns, gun control groups have been trying for years to ban or regulate homemade guns at the federal level but have failed to persuade Congress to act.

Then-President Joe Biden defended the rule, claiming that privately made guns, which are often made with gun kits, are the “weapons of choice for many criminals.”

The government’s “frame or receiver” rule dates to April 2022. It requires individuals who assemble homemade firearms to add serial numbers to them. The rule also mandates background checks for consumers who buy gun-assembly kits from dealers.

Gun components that are shipped qualify as guns subject to existing laws, the government argued.

In the majority opinion, Gorsuch wrote that the Gun Control Act of 1968 allows the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to regulate “some weapon parts kits and unfinished frames or receivers, including those we have discussed.”

After displaying a photograph of gun kit components supplied by seller Polymer80, he wrote: “Plainly, the finished ‘Buy Build Shoot’ kit is an instrument of combat. No one would confuse the semiautomatic pistol pictured above with a tool or a toy.”

The ATF rule includes background checks for buyers.

“Thousands of law-enforcement agencies nationwide depend on the [Gun Control] Act’s tracing system to link firearms involved in crimes to their owners,” Gorsuch wrote.

Citing evidence presented to the court, he wrote that sales of gun kits “have grown ‘exponentially,” and criminals “find them attractive.” This has led to “an explosion of crimes” involving ghost guns.

Law enforcement agencies reported in 2017 that they had “submitted about 1,600 ghost guns to the federal government for tracing,” Gorsuch noted.

“By 2021, that number jumped to more than 19,000. Efforts to trace the ownership of these weapons, the government represents, have proven ‘almost entirely futile,’” he said.

Describing the gun kit components as a weapon is justifiable, Gorsuch wrote.

The word “‘weapon’ is an artifact noun—a word for a thing created by humans,” he wrote. In everyday speech, people “sometimes use artifact nouns to refer to unfinished objects—at least when their intended function is clear.”

“An ordinary speaker might well describe the ‘Buy Build Shoot’ kit as a weapon, [even though] a half hour of work is required before anyone can fire a shot,” Gorsuch said.

The Supreme Court reversed a 2023 ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that held that the Gun Control Act did not allow the ATF to regulate homemade guns and returned the case to that court “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

In his dissent, Thomas wrote that the majority in this ruling has inserted language into the statute that isn’t there.

In a 2024 case, the Supreme Court declined to “rewrite” statutory wording “so that it could regulate semiautomatic weapons as machineguns,” he wrote.

Thomas was referring to<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-strikes-down-bump-stock-ban-5641412"> Garland v. Cargill</a>, a case in which the justices struck down an ATF rule banning bump stocks, which enable the continuous rapid fire of certain semi-automatic firearms.

“The Government now asks us to rewrite statutory text so that it can regulate weapon-parts kits,” Thomas said. “This time the Court obliges.

“The statutory terms ‘frame’ and ‘receiver’ do not cover the unfinished frames and receivers contained in weapon-parts kits, and weapon-parts kits themselves do not meet the statutory definition of ‘firearm.’

“That should end the case. The majority instead blesses the Government’s overreach based on a series of errors regarding both the standard of review and the interpretation of the statute.”

Congress could have given the ATF authority “to regulate any part of a firearm or any object readily convertible into one,” but it failed to do so, he said.

“I would adhere to the words Congress enacted,” he wrote.

The justice noted that the artifact noun methodology adopted by the majority was “novel” and “invites unforeseeable consequences and offers no limiting principle.”

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-upholds-biden-era-ghost-gun-regulation-5831574">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Latest

Videos

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Management

Supreme Court

Matthew Vadum is an award-winning investigative journalist.

Matthew Vadum

02_Second Lead

Courts

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.