Supreme Court to hear Biden administration appeal on ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers

The Supreme Court announced Monday that justices will take up a Biden administration appeal regarding a regulation on difficult-to-trace, so-called ghost guns that was struck down by lower courts.

The high court has already intervened in the matter, keeping the regulation in effect, in a 5-4 vote, during the legal fight.

Ghost guns do not have a serial number and have increasingly been turning up at crime scenes.

The regulation, which took effect in 2022, changed the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a longer gun, so they can be tracked more easily, acccording to the Associated Press. 

Those parts now must be licensed and include serial numbers.

In addition, manufacturers must run background checks before a sale.

The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, which means it includes guns made from individual parts or kits or by 3D printers, the wire service also reports.