In a major decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the government can treat ghost guns (including those made with 3D printers) like regular firearms. That means kits and parts that people use to build untraceable guns at home must now follow the same rules as store-bought guns. This includes having serial numbers and requiring background checks.
The decision came from a case called Bondi v. VanDerStok, and it supports a rule made during the Biden administration to close what many called the “ghost gun loophole.” This gap in the law lets people buy gun parts or kits, often online, and build working firearms at home without background checks or serial numbers.
Here is what it all means and how we got here…but first:
What are ghost guns? These homemade firearms can be assembled using a kit or fabricating parts with a 3D printer. They don’t have serial numbers, so police can’t trace them. And, until recently, you didn’t need a background check to get one. This became a problem, mainly for law enforcement, because it made it much easier for people who aren’t allowed to have guns, including criminals, to get them without being tracked.
However, on March 26, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government’s right to regulate ghost guns. The highest court in the country said, “Yes, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) can treat ghost gun kits and unfinished parts as real guns.”
That includes many 3D printed parts that can be easily turned into working firearms. While some states, like California, New York, Hawaii, and Delaware, already had rules in place, this decision now makes those same requirements apply at a federal level. Now, these parts must have serial numbers, buyers must go through a background check, and sellers must be licensed.
Illegal machine gun conversion devices or MCDs. Image courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Why This Matters for 3D Printing
3D printers have made it easier for people to create gun parts at home. Although these parts used to be unregulated, under the new Court-upheld rule, even if someone prints a gun part at home, it will be treated as a firearm if it can be turned into a working gun. That puts 3D printed frames, receivers, pistol grips, trigger assemblies, and other parts under the same laws as regular guns.
This decision now affects hobbyists printing gun parts, companies selling gun-printing files or kits, and law enforcement tracking untraceable weapons.
As 3D printed gun parts became more accessible, incidents involving them started showing up more often in police reports. A 3DPrint.com investigation found that in 2024 alone, there were at least 64 arrests worldwide linked to 3D printed firearms. That pushed the total number of arrests since 2013 to 342, pointing to a steady rise in incidents over the past decade.
Some of the highest numbers were in the United States and Canada, where arrests have been rising fast. In the U.S., there were 126 arrests by the middle of 2024. In Canada, the number went from 82 in 2023 to 107 by mid-2024.
New Jersey Police Department conducted research investigation and 3D printed switches using a Bambu Lab. Image courtesy of the NJSCI.
The Timeline That Brought Ghost Guns to Court
To understand how ghost gun parts, including those made with 3D printers, ended up being regulated like traditional firearms, it helps to look back at the key moments that led to this decision:
In 2018, President Trump asked the Department of Justice to review gun laws after several mass shootings. However, this didn’t lead to any rule changes on ghost guns.
Then, in 2021, President Joe Biden took office and promised to “crack down on ghost guns.”
By 2022, the ATF, under Biden’s administration, announced a new rule that stated “ghost gun kits equal firearms,” sellers must add serial numbers, and buyers must get background checks.
Between 2023 and 2024, the rule faced legal challenges. Some lower courts said the ATF went too far.
In August 2023, the Supreme Court stepped in temporarily, allowing the ATF’s rule to stay in effect while those legal challenges continued.
On March 26, 2025, the Supreme Court decided in Bondi v. VanDerStok that the ATF did not go too far and that the rule was legal.
A partially 3D printed gun found by Ann Arbor Police during a traffic stop. Image courtesy of Ann Arbor Police Department.
Bondi v. VanDerStok was the court case that brought the ghost gun issue all the way to the Supreme Court. The lead plaintiff, Jennifer VanDerStok, is a gun owner from Texas who, along with other individuals and gun rights groups, challenged a federal rule by the ATF.
In the original case docket filed in the Northern District of Texas in 2022, they argued that the ATF went too far when it created a regulation that treated gun kits and unfinished parts — including 3D printed frames and receivers — as if they were already fully built firearms. However, after appeals and legal battles, the case made it to the Supreme Court in 2024, where the justices were asked to decide whether the ATF had the authority to issue the rule.
Seven of the nine Supreme Court justices agreed that the ATF’s ghost gun rule is allowed under the law.
In fact, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for the majority and stated: “An author might invite your opinion on her latest novel, even if she sends you an unfinished manuscript. A friend might speak of the table he just bought at IKEA, even though hours of assembly remain ahead of him. […] In the same way and for the same reason, an ordinary speaker might well describe the ‘Buy Build Shoot’ kit as a ‘weapon.’ […] Really, the kit’s name says it all: ‘Buy Build Shoot.'”
This ruling now applies at a federal level, so 3D printed gun parts can legally be treated like real firearms. For anyone building or buying ghost guns, the process now includes background checks and serial numbers, just like buying a gun in a store. While the Supreme Court’s decision makes the rule official across the country, the ATF is now in charge of carrying out the rule and making sure manufacturers, sellers, and buyers follow it. It’s a major shift for the 3D printing ecosystem and a clear policy win for the Biden administration.