Bondi v. VanDerStok

Case Overview

The ATF issued a rule in 2022 treating ghost gun kits, commercially sold packages that let you assemble an untraceable firearm at home with no serial number and no background check required, as "firearms" subject to the Gun Control Act's licensing and record-keeping requirements. The Fifth Circuit said the ATF was overreading the statute, but the Supreme Court reversed 7-2 in March 2025, with Justice Gorsuch writing that a weapon parts kit designed to be readily assembled into a working gun qualifies as a firearm under federal law, and the ATF rule requiring serial numbers and background checks therefore falls within the agency's statutory authority. The decision rebuts the argument that Congress's 1968 definitions left no room for kits engineered to produce the same functional result without the paperwork.

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