Supreme Court to hear arguments in challenge to ATF's ghost gun rule
CBSSEP 22 2024
SCOTUS Weighs Ghost Gun Regulations
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The Facts
On Tuesday, SCOTUS began hearing arguments in a case challenging the Biden administration's 2022 regulation of "ghost guns," which are firearm kits without serial numbers that can be obtained online and assembled in less than 30 minutes.
The justices largely framed their questions based on whether the kits could be classified as guns in order to be regulated as such.
The 2022 rule classifies the kits as firearms under the Gun Control Act of 1968, requiring serial numbers, background checks, and age verification for buyers. These kits have been increasingly linked to crimes, with recoveries by law enforcement rising from about 1.8K in 2016 to nearly 20K in 2021, according to the Justice Department.
The Spin
Republican narrative
The ATF has overstepped its authority, potentially criminalizing hobbyists and law-abiding citizens. Homemade guns are older than the country. Criminals aren't manufacturing their own weapons, so all this rule does is impose an unnecessary cost on law-abiding gun dealers, manufacturers, and owners.
Democratic narrative
It's naive to think these kits don't appeal more to criminals than hobbyists, who wouldn't get much enjoyment from something that can be assembled so quickly. Thus, the government is well within its rights to regulate — not ban — these kits to make sure they don't proliferate in communities and endanger citizens.
Political split
LEFT
RIGHT
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