The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Thursday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) lacked authority to adopt a final rule aimed at limiting “ghost guns,” weapons parts kits that can be put together to create a firearm without having to register it. The case is an appeal from the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Circuit Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt authored the majority opinion for the three-judge panel. Engelhardt found that the final rule constitutes unlawful agency action because it “flouts clear statutory text and exceeds the legislatively-imposed limits on agency authority in the name of public policy.” Thus, Engelhardt ruled that the final rule is “limitless” and the Gun Control Act (GCA) does not allow the final rule.

In April 2022, the ATF issued a final rule that changed the definition of “frame” and “receiver” to include split or multi-part receivers and made applicable existing gun regulations to all firearms. The final rule stipulated that:

The terms ‘frame’ and ‘receiver’ shall include a partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional frame or receiver, including a frame or receiver parts kit, that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to function as a frame or receiver, i.e., to house or provide a structure for the primary energized component of a handgun, breech blocking or sealing component of a projectile weapon other than a handgun.

Soon after the ATF promulgated this final rule, several gun owners and manufacturers sued, arguing that the rule goes beyond the scope of the ATF’s jurisdiction under the National Firearms Act and the GCA. The district court sided with the plaintiffs in the case and issued a final order in their favor. The case has already made its way up to the US Supreme Court. In October, the court blocked the district court’s order. 

This is not the only gun law making its way through the US federal court system. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging a federal law that prohibits individuals subject to a domestic violence court order from owning a gun.