Media Contact: Georgia Seltzer, (202) 822-8200 x104, gseltzer@vpc.org
In this industry update: the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on the Biden Administration’s ghost gun regulations while ongoing VPC research offers a snapshot from Washington, DC on the dramatic increase in police recoveries of these guns; another example of the gun industry’s militarized marketing, this time from gunmaker FN; and, back to the Supreme Court, which agrees to hear the Mexican government’s case against specific gun manufacturers.
Supreme Court Hears Arguments in “Ghost Gun” Case
On October 8, 2024, the U.S Supreme Court heard arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok, a case challenging the Biden Administration’s rule to regulate ghost guns. Ghost guns are unregulated, unserialized firearms. The availability of ghost guns poses an existential threat to America’s gun laws.
The Violence Policy Center has been tracking the number of ghost guns recovered in the District of Columbia by the Metropolitan Police Department ─ where there has been a massive rise. Washington, D.C. police recovered three ghost guns in 2017, 25 in 2018, and 115 in 2019. From January 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024, DC police recovered 498 ghost guns, including 33 ghost-gun assault rifles. A decision in the case is expected before the end of the current Supreme Court term in June 2025.
This Week in Gun Industry Militarized Marketing and Tools for Homegrown Insurrectionists
In an ad in the November 2024 issue of Guns & Ammo, gunmaker FN promises, “What we’ve learned in 135 years we’ve put into every FN.” The two-page ad features a semiautomatic FN SCAR assault rifle, an M240B fully automatic machine gun, a high-capacity FN 509 Tactical pistol, and a photo of a military convoy.
In the ad, the company promise that it does “Whatever it takes to protect freedom – abroad and here at home.”
In Other Supreme Court News
On October 4th, the Court agreed to hear the case brought by the Government of Mexico against a number of gun manufacturers. The Court will decide “whether the production and sale of firearms in the United States is the proximate cause of alleged injuries to the Mexican government stemming from violence committed by drug cartels in Mexico and whether the production and sale of firearms in the United States amounts to ‘aiding and abetting’ illegal firearms trafficking because firearms companies allegedly know that some of their products are unlawfully trafficked.”
The VPC has joined in two amicus briefs in the case. In this brief, the VPC and other gun violence prevention organizations describe how individual gun manufacturers’ products are used by the cartels to terrorize Mexican citizens and law enforcement.