Federal court strikes down ATF ghost gun rule

A Texas federal judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, ruled that the ATF’s 2022 ghost gun rule violates the Second Amendment and is void for vagueness, signaling a major setback for the administration’s regulation of unserialized kits and frames. The decision comes after a Supreme Court ruling in 2025 that upheld the ATF’s authority to write the rule on statutory grounds, though justices did not rule on its constitutionality, prompting renewed questions in lower courts. O’Connor’s ruling emphasizes a long-standing American tradition of gunsmithing and argues the rule is too vague to enforce. Gun-rights groups, including Defense Distributed and Gun Owners of America, welcomed the decision as a defense of constitutional rights and due-process limits. The ruling indicates a renewed battleground over how ghost gun definitions are applied and whether further appeals will shape the reach of federal gun-regulation in practice. Industry voices criticized the rule as overly broad and arbitrary, potentially criminalizing ordinary ownership of build-ready parts, while supporters may seek to press the government for clarifications or new rules through the appeals process.