The US Supreme Court has upheld a major gun control policy enacted by the Biden administration to regulate so-called ghost guns – largely untraceable firearms that can be assembled at home using kits.
The rules require manufacturers to include serial numbers on the kits and to perform background checks on those who purchased them.
Advocacy groups have called ghost guns the fastest-growing gun safety problem in America, with the numbers of such guns recovered from crime scenes rising by more than 1,000% since 2017.
The 7-2 ruling on Wednesday marks a change for this Supreme Court, which has a conservative super-majority that has been largely sceptical of gun regulations.
“Perhaps a half hour of work is required before anyone can fire a shot,” wrote conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, who penned the opinion for the vote. “Really, the kit’s name says it all: ‘Buy Build Shoot’.”
The Biden administration established rules in 2022 that tightened access to weapons kits after law enforcement agencies warned they were becoming increasingly popular on the market and were being used to commit violent crimes.
Gun rights groups challenged the rule arguing the government had overstepped its bounds in regulating the kits.
At issue was whether a 1968 law that requires gun manufacturers and dealers to run background checks, keep sales records and include serial numbers on firearms, should be applied to ghost guns.
Lawyers for the Biden administration argued the guns kits should be regulated the same way as other firearms because they allowed “anyone with basic tools and access to internet video tutorials to assemble a functional firearm quickly and easily”.
Ghost guns are so-called because they are potentially untraceable. They can be assembled at home, either from scratch or through weapon parts kits, and they are not marked with serial numbers.
They returned to the spotlight in December 2024, when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in New York.
Investigators said the black pistol allegedly recovered from Luigi Mangione, the suspect arrested in connection with the killing, appeared to be a ghost gun.
It is unclear how the Trump administration will approach the issue of gun violence in the United States. In February, Donald Trump signed an order asking the Attorney General to review Biden-era gun legislation.
Source: bbc.co.uk
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