The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule on “ghost guns” was struck down by a federal appeals court on Friday, with the ruling saying the agency exceeded its authority.
The rule from the agency reworked the definition of a firearm for regulatory purposes to include parts which could be used to make guns. In a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday, the rule was struck down as the court argued it was in Congress’s jurisdiction not the ATF’s.
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“ATF, in promulgating its Final Rule, attempted to take on the mantle of Congress to “do something” with respect to gun control. But it is not the province of an executive agency to write laws for our nation. That vital duty, for better or for worse, lies solely with the legislature,” the ruling said.
“Only Congress may make the deliberate and reasoned decision to enact new or modified legislation regarding firearms based on the important policy concerns put forth by ATF and the various amici here. But unless and until Congress so acts to expand or alter the language of the Gun Control Act, ATF must operate within the statutory text’s existing limits. The Final Rule impermissibly exceeds those limits, such that ATF has essentially rewritten the law,” the ruling continued.
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The rule, which was proposed by President Joe Biden in April 2022, has faced numerous legal challenges, with this recent ruling coming on the heels of a lower court opinion which had ruled against the Biden administration on the matter.
Biden has been an advocate for restricting and regulating so-called “ghost guns,” including through this ATF rule. With a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and a narrow Democratic majority in the Senate, getting legislation similar to the ATF rule based appears unlikely.
