The Biden Administration is now urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling made by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against ghost gun regulations.
In November 2023, the New Orleans-based court of appeals' lower-court ruling tossed a part of the rule adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
In the lower-court ruling, officials explained that ATF's rule that targets privately made guns without serial numbers is contradicting the Gun Control Act.
However, the Biden Admin said that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision against ATF's rule was wrong.
Biden Admin Urges Supreme Court to Overturn Ruling on Ghost Gun Regulations
According to US News, the U.S. Department of Justice argued that the decision of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to declare ATF's rule unlawful was incorrect.
Recently, the court of appeals claimed that ATF's rule went beyond the authority provided to it by the law when it comes to gun regulations.
Their decision to declare the agency's rule as "unlawful" came after some firearm owners and gun rights organizations sued Texas to challenge the regulation.
However, the Biden Administration said that the 5th Circuit's holding is against the Gun Control Act's plain text. Aside from this, the lower-court ruling would also lead to a drastic increase in ghost guns.
"The result would be a flood of untraceable ghost guns into our nation's communities, endangering the public and thwarting law-enforcement efforts to solve violent crimes," said the DOJ.
Why Ghost Guns are Troublesome
CNN explained that ghost guns are very similar to regular firearms. However, unlike traditional guns, these weapons are harder to trace.
This is because they come in gun kits, which are then assembled by consumers, allowing them to have a fully functional firearm. Aside from this, ghost guns also lack serial numbers needed by law enforcement officials to track them.
Because of the dangers ghost guns pose, the Biden Administration, as well as critics and other people who oppose them, said that these weapons are attractive to criminals.
Ghost guns can also attract minors, which can lead to dangerous situations, such as mass shootings in schools.
