Gun rights advocates recently celebrated a victory in the ongoing legal saga, which the Biden administration is now trying to reverse.
The ongoing legal battle over “ghost guns” has returned to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Biden administration aims to regain authority over these “untraceable firearms,” following a recent victory for Second Amendment advocates.
On Thursday, roughly two months after it last brought this case to the Supreme Court, the Biden administration once again asked the justices to reinstate Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regulations on “ghost guns.”
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that on Sept. 14 a lower court, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, effectively undermined an Aug. 28 order by the nation’s highest court.
“This is the rare application where this Court has already applied the relevant legal standard in the very same case and determined the government should obtain emergency relief,” wrote Mr. Prelogar in her petition.
“The Court’s answer should be the same as it was two months ago,” she added, having argued that without the Supreme Court’s relief, “untraceable ghost guns will remain widely available.”
The prior Aug. 28 high court order in question was an administrative stay issued by Justice Samuel Alito that allowed the enforcement of an ATF rule designed to regulate “ghost guns” by defining them as firearms.
“Ghost guns” is a pejorative term for partially completed frames and kits that can be purchased and assembled into functional firearms. The Biden administration wants to impose a rule that makers of these “ghost guns” must obtain licenses, mark their products with serial numbers, maintain transaction records, and conduct background checks.
This rule was first blocked nationwide by Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, on July 5. This ruling was then challenged in the Supreme Court, where Justice Alito intervened, issuing a temporary administrative stay.
