A Supreme Court ruling temporarily upholding the Biden administration’s rule regulating so-called ghost guns that can be assembled at home will remain in effect until at least Aug. 8.
That’s because on Aug. 4 Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito unexpectedly extended his ongoing stay of a federal judge’s ruling blocking the government’s rule on homemade firearms. The move gives the justices more time to consider the government’s emergency request to keep the block in place.
“Ghost gun” is a pejorative term used by gun control advocates to describe a homemade firearm that lacks a serial number and therefore can’t be tracked by law enforcement. Although some states regulate homemade guns, gun control groups have been trying for years to ban or regulate homemade guns at the federal level but have failed to convince the U.S. Congress to act.
Proposed 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2023
The court’s order comes two months after Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced S.1819, the proposed 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2023, which would make it unlawful to distribute code over the internet that can be used to produce or complete a firearm.
“The danger of these 3D guns is … they’re untraceable because there’s no serial number on them. And with $200 a 3D printer can be purchased that actually makes the gun,” Mr. Markey told NBC on June 7.
Before that, in April 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a rule requiring individuals who assemble homemade firearms to add serial numbers to them. The rule also mandated background checks for consumers who purchase the kits from dealers.
“This rule will make it harder for criminals and other prohibited persons to obtain untraceable guns,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time.
“It will help to ensure that law enforcement officers can retrieve the information they need to solve crimes. And it will help reduce the number of untraceable firearms flooding our communities,” he said.
Around that time, President Joe Biden said that privately made guns, which are often made with gun kits, are the “weapons of choice for many criminals.”
On July 28, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito administratively stayed a nationwide injunction issued on July 5 by U.S. Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that blocked the Biden administration’s rule.
The stay was to expire on Aug. 4, but on that date, Justice Alito extended the stay to 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. Justice Alito did not explain why he issued the extension. No justices dissented from the ruling.
