In a blow to Second Amendment rights and angering Trump’s patriots, the Supreme Court sided with former President Joe Biden as it upheld the unconstitutional “ghost gun” regulations in a 7-2 decision.
This ruling gives the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) unprecedented power to track and limit private citizens’ ability to build their own firearms at home, a tradition as old as America itself.
The decision comes as patriots await President Trump’s administration’s dismantling of this overreaching regulation.
The court’s ruling allows the ATF to continue enforcing regulations established in 2022 that require privately assembled firearms to have serial numbers and subject buyers to background checks.
Even conservative-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch sided with the liberal wing, authoring the majority opinion that effectively treats gun parts and kits as complete firearms.
Only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito stood firm in defense of gun rights, issuing dissents that highlighted how the Biden administration had overstepped its constitutional authority.
The decision represents yet another attempt by unelected bureaucrats to chip away at Americans’ right to bear arms without congressional approval.
The regulation specifically targets kits sold online that patriots can assemble at home, effectively treating incomplete parts as finished firearms.
These so-called “ghost guns” are homemade firearms without serial numbers that the government cannot track.
Moreover, the ATF asserted these regulations were necessary based on claims that ghost guns at crime scenes rose from under 1,700 in 2017 to over 27,000 in 2023.
Yet the agency conveniently fails to mention that this increase coincided with cities defunding police departments, progressive prosecutors refusing to lock up criminals, and the decriminalization of various offenses.
Gun rights advocates have correctly pointed out that criminals do not follow laws, and these regulations only burden law-abiding citizens who enjoy building firearms as a hobby.
The court’s decision ignores the reality that someone willing to commit a violent crime is not concerned about breaking additional laws regarding firearm assembly.
The court’s ruling clarifies that these kits fall under the definition of “firearm” in the 1968 Gun Control Act, an overreach that fundamentally changes the legal understanding of what constitutes a firearm.
This judicial rewriting of long-established definitions gives unelected bureaucrats unprecedented power to regulate virtually any component that could potentially be part of a firearm.
The current administration has pledged to revisit all firearm-related regulations implemented under Biden, with gun rights advocates expecting this ghost gun regulation to be among the first overturned.
This ruling starkly contrasts the Court’s June 2024 decision rejecting a federal rule banning bump stocks, underscoring the inconsistent application of principles regarding ATF authority.
The ghost gun decision represents another example of the deep state’s attempt to disarm Americans through regulation rather than legislation, circumventing the constitutional process required to restrict fundamental rights.
As the Trump administration handles these issues, Second Amendment supporters remain hopeful that sanity will be restored to federal firearms policy and that Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms – including the right to manufacture them at home
