Nation’s Leading Gun Violence Prevention Organizations Issue Statements in Response to Oral Argument in Garland v. VanDerStok

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok, a critical case that challenges a reckless decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. If upheld by the Supreme Court, this ruling would strike down portions of the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2022 life-saving ghost gun rule. Ghost guns are unserialized, untraceable firearms that can be easily put together in minutes from parts acquired without a background check. Experts from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Community Justice, Everytown Law, Georgetown Law, GIFFORDS Law Center, and March For Our Lives addressed the press about the implications and consequences of the case.

“The consequences of a bad decision in this case from the Supreme Court are enormous. We cannot allow the extremist, far-right Court to erode rules and regulations rightfully put in place by ATF to prevent the flow of trafficked, unserialized, and untraceable guns into our communities,” said Adzi Vokhiwa, Vice President of Policy at Community Justice. “The manufacturers of ghost guns and ghost gun kits must not be allowed to sell the weapons and weapon parts that fuel gun violence in communities across the nation without impunity.”

“Today, the ghost gun industry’s fiction that its gun building kits are not firearms crashed into a brick wall of reality in the Supreme Court,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law. “All or nearly all of the Justices seemed to recognize under Congress’ broad and flexible definition that a gun building kit that can quickly and easily be turned into an operable weapon is a firearm that requires a serial number and background check.”

“We know that ghost guns pose an enormous threat to public safety and have been used time and time again in crimes across the nation. Before ATF clarified that ghost gun products are guns, we saw an 1000% increase in ghost guns found at crime scenes. The clarifying rule is the accurate reflection of the law, and it is essential for public safety. The fringe companies challenging the rule are doing so because they want to decimate our gun laws and sell guns to criminals. The Supreme Court’s own police force recognizes that ghost guns are guns. The Justices must too,” said David Pucino, Legal Director and Deputy Chief Counsel of GIFFORDS Law Center.

“Ghost guns are unserialized firearms that are practically untraceable and can easily and quickly be built at home,” said Ciara Malone, Legal Director at March For Our Lives. “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck––and it appears the Supreme Court agrees with us. The government correctly argues that this reading of the statute is necessary not only to uphold Congress’ intent when creating the Gun Control Act but also to prevent widespread circumvention of the Act’s purpose. There is no other purpose to a ghost gun kit other than for a user to turn it into a fully functioning and deadly firearm, complete with instructions from the manufacturer. Allowing their unregulated sale would tear a gaping hole into our already fragile system of gun safety, allowing everyone from felons to underage minors to purchase a gun. We urge the Supreme Court to use common sense and reverse the Fifth Circuit’s dangerous decision and protect America’s children and young people.”

“For too long, the ghost gun industry has hidden behind the guise of supporting hobbyists, when we know in fact that their products are the weapon of choice for criminals,” said Douglas Letter, Chief Legal Officer at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “The Biden-Harris administration’s rule is saving lives by regulating an industry that has flooded our streets with unserialized, untraceable weapons that evade common-sense gun regulations like Brady Background Checks. The Supreme Court Justices appear to recognize that halting the flow of these kits is paramount to our safety, and look ready to call the gun industry out on its laughable claim that these kits aren’t a major threat, making today’s oral argument a promising start in a case that will have drastic implications for the safety of our families and communities.”

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.

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Community Justice is a non-partisan project of Tides Center and builds power for communities of color to end gun violence.