A Texas federal judge has dealt a new blow to the Biden administration’s rule on so-called ghost guns, ruling that the regulation violates constitutional protections even after the Supreme Court previously upheld it on different grounds.
Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth found that the 2022 rule violates the Second Amendment and is too vague under the Fifth Amendment’s due process requirement, according to Reuters.
A Supreme Court win did not end the case
The decision reopens a legal fight that appeared partly settled in March 2025, when the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to uphold the regulation. Reuters reported that the justices’ ruling focused on whether the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had authority under Congress’s gun laws to issue the rule.
The high court did not decide whether the rule violates the Constitution. Gun rights challengers then returned to O’Connor, who had previously ruled against the measure, and pressed the constitutional arguments left unresolved.
What the rule requires
The regulation treats partially finished frames and receivers as firearms under the 1968 Gun Control Act. Businesses selling those parts and related kits must mark them with serial numbers, obtain federal licenses and conduct background checks on buyers.
The challengers include the Second Amendment Foundation and Defense Distributed, an Austin company that sells equipment used to complete unfinished firearm components.
O’Connor, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, concluded that the rule restricts Americans from obtaining parts used to build or repair their own firearms. In the ruling, he wrote that the regulation “contradicts the actual historical tradition of personal gunsmithing.”
“Self-manufacture of firearms in America was common and indeed foundational to establishing our Nation,” O’Connor wrote.
The order is limited, not nationwide
The ruling does not block enforcement of the rule across the country. O’Connor’s order bars enforcement against Defense Distributed and against Second Amendment Foundation members as to certain Defense Distributed products.
Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, welcomed the decision and characterized the Biden-era rule as “a mess.”
Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson also praised the ruling in comments to Headline USA. “The court got it right. ATF did not respect Bruen. There is no history or tradition of regulating privately made firearms in this country,” Wilson said.
Gun control advocates expect an appeal
Gun control advocates sharply rejected the decision. Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law, told Reuters: “There is no Second Amendment right to buy or sell an untraceable ghost gun kit without a background check. This decision is egregiously wrong, and we expect the Justice Department to promptly appeal.”
The ruling leaves the regulation facing another round of litigation, this time centered on constitutional questions the Supreme Court did not resolve in its earlier decision.
