A person holds a 3D-printed ghost gun during a statewide gun buyback event held by the office of the New York State Attorney General in New York City on April 29, 2023. Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images
In its term just ended, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) may regulate weapons parts kits as “firearms.” The case was Bondi v. VanDerStok. It also is called the “ghost gun case.”
Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor, is Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence at the Mountain States Policy Center and the Independence Institute. He authored “The Original Constitution” (4th ed., 2025) and is a contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”
