Supreme Court signals support for Biden administration regulation of 'ghost gun' kits

The Supreme Court offered clear support Tuesday for continued federal regulation of so-called "ghost guns" that can be assembled from kits into a working firearm without a background check or the usual serial numbers.

At issue in oral arguments was whether the devices meet the federal definition of a "firearm" and "frame and receiver," and whether the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its authority to regulate and enforce their sale.

Ghost guns are do-it-yourself functional weapons that are often purchased online, and marketed by some sellers as easy to assemble.

The Justice Department said more than 19,000 hard-to-trace ghost guns were seized by law enforcement in 2021, a more than tenfold increase in just five years.

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That was driven in part by recent technological advances, many containing polymer-based unassembled firearm components.

Final home assembly typically requires the use of some readily available tools, including drilling holes and milling or sanding the unfinished frame or receiver, which enable the installation of parts.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said the rising sale of untraceable "ghost guns" had created a "public safety crisis" with an "explosion" of crimes committed using them.

Several justices in the 75-minute argument appeared to back much of the Biden administration's arguments, suggesting nearly complete parts meet the ordinary definition of a firearm subject to regulation.

"What is the purpose of selling a receiver without the holes drilled in it?" said Chief Justice John Roberts, rejecting suggestions the kits were marketed at the weekend gun hobbyist. "Drilling a hole or two,