As the Supreme Court Prepares to Hear Oral Arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok, Nation’s Leading Gun Violence Prevention Organizations Urge High Court to Reverse Fifth Circuit’s Extreme Decision, Protect ATF’s Life-Saving Ghost Gun Rule

NEW YORK – One week from today, on October 8th, 2024, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok, a critical case taking up a reckless decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that would strike down portions of the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2022 life-saving ghost gun rule if the Supreme Court affirms. 

Ghost guns are unserialized, untraceable firearms that can be easily put together in minutes from parts acquired without a background check. How the Supreme Court decides this case will determine whether kits for assembling ghost guns will be regulated like the deadly firearms they are – by requiring serialization of major components and background checks on purchasers.

Four of our nation’s leading gun violence prevention organizations – Everytown Law, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, GIFFORDS Law Center, and March For Our Lives – have united to urge the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s reckless decision and uphold the common sense rule. Here’s what you need to know:

• For years, public safety advocates, gun violence survivors, top legal experts, law enforcement, elected officials, and more fought to regulate ghost guns for what they are — deadly firearms. 

• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) resulting rule, which was finalized in April 2022 and took effect in August 2022 under the Biden-Harris administration, updated and clarified key definitions – including “firearm,” “frame,” and “receiver” – to ensure that kits and components that are easily assembled into untraceable ghost guns are subject to the same regulations as firearms. 

• The Fifth Circuit invalidated the ATF rule on November 9, 2023. Two prior challenges that would have struck down or undermined the ghost gun rule were largely unsuccessful.

• Allowing the unregulated sale of ghost gun kits and components to resume would re-open a gaping hole in our already fragile system of gun safety, allowing everyone from individuals convicted of felony offenses to underage minors to easily obtain and assemble untraceable guns. The ATF estimates that between 2016 and 2022, law enforcement personnel recovered approximately 71,024 unserialized crime guns. Examples of ghost gun shootings from across the country since 2013 are available here. 

• While this legal challenge is playing out in the courts, the lifesaving rule remains in place. And it’s working:
  • Early data indicates a drop in ghost gun recoveries at crime scenes since the ATF’s rule went into effect, further proving that a Supreme Court ruling affirming the rule in VanDerStok is absolutely essential to public safety. New York City, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Oakland, and other cities reported declines in ghost gun recoveries in 2023.
  • Polymer80 – once the country’s largest producer of unserialized ghost gun kits and component parts – recently shut down following numerous legal and regulatory challenges, including the ATF’s rule.

• GIFFORDS Law Center’s report on why ghost guns are an existential threat to public safety can be found here. Everytown’s report on ghost guns, featuring testimonials from law enforcement officers, can be found here. Brady’s video on the ease of purchasing ghost guns can be found here.

Legal experts across all four gun violence organizations, as well as survivors of ghost gun shootings and national security experts, are available to discuss what is at stake in this case. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to press@everytown.org to coordinate or learn more.