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In a 5-4 ruling, the United States Supreme Court paused a lower court's decision, unfreezing the enforcement of new regulations on ghost guns issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Ghost gun kits can be purchased online and include the parts needed to quickly assemble a fully functional firearm. Because the kits were unregulated, the guns usually did not have serial numbers, making the homemade firearms nearly impossible to trace.
The ATF updated the rules on ghost gun kits in 2022 to define them as firearms under federal law. As a result, commercial ghost gun kit manufacturers and sellers would be required to mark the parts with serial numbers and keep records that law enforcement could use to track any guns used in a crime.
In June, Judge Reed O'Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the ATF overstepped its authority and blocked the enforcement of the rule nationwide.
Chief Justice John Roberts and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court's three liberal Justices to allow the rule to take effect while the case makes its way through the legal system.
The Court's order did not provide an explanation for the ruling.
The case will now head to a lower court, which will begin hearing oral arguments next month.