The Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration and revived federal rules forbidding the sale or use of untraceable guns.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration and revived federal rules that forbid the sale or use of assembled guns that can be bought online and are untraceable.
The justices set aside a Texas judge’s order from last month that had voided the federal rules on these “ghost guns.”
The vote was 5 to 4. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh dissented.
This gun-rights dispute does not turn on the 2nd Amendment, but it has great practical significance.
Police in California say ghost guns have been surging in number and put lethal weapons in the hands of criminals and teenagers who cannot legally buy a gun from a licensed dealer.
U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar appealed to the high court on July 27 and urged the justices to lift the nationwide order handed down by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth.
O’Connor ruled in favor of several Texas gun owners and a gun dealer who argued the Gun Control Act of 1968 and its definition of a “firearm” does not extend to the unassembled parts of a working gun.
