The Supreme Court is hearing its first oral arguments of the 2024-25 term today. The case, Garland v. VanDerStok, surrounds a 2022 regulation on so-called “ghost guns”—untraceable firearm components made through 3D printing, kits, and parts.
At issue is whether the Biden administration overstepped its authority in amending the 1968 definition of a firearm to include parts capable of being converted into a gun in under 30 minutes. The change, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, requires manufacturers to run background checks on buyers and mark products with serial numbers, among other obligations. The amended rule came after what the administration says was a roughly tenfold increase in the number of ghost guns recovered at crime scenes since 2017, with law enforcement recovering ghost guns in up to 15% of gun-related crimes.
At issue is whether the Biden administration overstepped its authority in amending the 1968 definition of a firearm to include parts capable of being converted into a gun in under 30 minutes. The change, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, requires manufacturers to run background checks on buyers and mark products with serial numbers, among other obligations. The amended rule came after what the administration says was a roughly tenfold increase in the number of ghost guns recovered at crime scenes since 2017, with law enforcement recovering ghost guns in up to 15% of gun-related crimes.