Are ghost guns illegal? Supreme Court sides with President Biden’s regulations on the firearm, blocks lower court’s order allowing sales

Regulations on ghost guns are still being challenged in the US, where gun control continues to be a heated point of contention, encompassing decades of argument and deliberation. More recently, on Monday, October 16, the United States Supreme Court overruled a Texas Federal Judge's order and complied with Biden administration's ghost gun measures by blocking two online sellers from selling parts that can be assembled into a ghost gun.

Back in August, the Supreme Court received a majority vote and declared the Biden administration's proposal to go fully into effect. Ghost guns are untraceable firearms that come without a serial number. These guns are bought as parts and can be readily assembled. While they are not illegal in the US, these guns are now being regulated just like any other firearm.

Monday's order blocked two Texas-based online sellers, Blackhawk Manufacturing and Defense Distributed, from selling ghost gun parts. The sellers had initially received an exemption from the Biden administration regulations to sell their parts from a Texas federal judge.

This lower court exemption was overturned by the Supreme Court, which upheld the Biden administration's 2022 regulations. The regulations came into effect in August of this year when the Supreme Court passed the new regulations with a 5-4 majority vote.

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Cheap and untraceable, ghost guns are now being regulated in the US

Ghost guns have no serial numbers and cannot be traced, and these firearms are not bought as a unit. Instead, they're assembled. People usually buy ghost gun kits that can be readily and easily assembled into a functioning firearm. Unlike regular firearms, before the Biden administration's stringent measures, ghost gun kits could have been purchased without background checks.

Before the regulations, ghost guns were seen as untraceable weaponry that could function due to loopholes in the law. Those opposing the production of these guns have previously argued how the existence and sale of ghost guns undermined existing gun laws. Ghost guns are usually constructed using unfinished frames and receivers, and they are increasingly being made through 3-D printing.

Before the ghost gun regulations, even if the frame was slightly unfinished, it became an unregulated firearm, as the frame was the part that was regulated under the gun law. A ghost gun kit contains everything required to turn these unfinished frames and receivers into fully functioning firearms.

At the time, there were no federal restrictions on who could buy such a gun, and how many could be bought. Given its cheap price, and its intentional marketing campaign based around the fact that these guns were untraceable, these firearms were of particular attraction to criminals.

In April 2022, the Biden administration introduced new regulations for ghost guns. According to these regulations, these guns would now be treated the same as any other firearm, regardless of how they are manufactured. Under this rule, the once untraceable guns were now required to include serial numbers. Sellers of the guns were to keep records of sales, as long as they continued the business.

Sellers were also required to be federally licensed, and now, were legally required to run background checks on buyers. The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives had to alter the definition of a firearm, which now included firearm kits, thereby granting permission for the government to regulate these kits, just like regular firearms.