Appeals Court Rules Biden’s ‘Ghost Gun’ Restrictions Unlawful

The Biden administration’s regulation targeting “ghost guns” has been ruled unlawful by the federal appeals court, which stated that the administration lacked the authority to adopt such a regulation. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with firearm owners, gun rights groups, and manufacturers, stating that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ 2022 rule was unlawful.

The court panel, consisting entirely of judges appointed by former President Donald Trump, upheld a Texas judge’s ruling against the rule, which aimed to address the rapid proliferation of homemade weapons that are difficult to trace. The rule updated the definition of a “firearm,” “frame,” and “receiver” under the Gun Control Act of 1968 to address the rise of ghost guns that can be assembled from kits bought online or in stores without a background check.

U.S. Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, writing for the 5th Circuit panel, stated that the ATF’s rule “flouts clear statutory text and exceeds the legislatively-imposed limits on agency authority in the name of public policy.” The U.S. Department of Justice and ATF did not respond to requests for comment, but the administration is likely to appeal.

The administration has expressed concern that ghost guns are attractive to criminals and others prohibited from lawfully buying firearms, citing a tenfold increase in suspected ghost guns recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations from 2016 to 2021. The Firearms Policy Coalition Action Foundation’s lawyer, Cody Wisniewski, called Thursday’s ruling a “massive victory against ATF and a huge blow to the Biden administration’s gun-control agenda.”