Statement on Bondi v. Vanderstok

Jewish Women International applauds the Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling in favor of community safety and common sense gun laws. In Bondi v. Vanderstok, the Supreme Court upheld a regulation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regulating so-called “ghost guns,” guns that are sold as disassembled kits without serial numbers (hence the “ghost” — they can’t be traced) or background checks, as firearms. The use of ghost guns to commit crimes have exploded in recent years, with 1,600 being recovered from crime scenes in 2017 and more than 21,000 being recovered from crime scenes in 2021.

Under the ATF regulation, gun assembly kits are regulated as guns. They must have serial numbers to be traceable, and individuals who purchase gun kits from federally licensed firearms dealers must undergo a background check.

Says JWI’s CEO, Meredith Jacobs, “Ghost guns pose a deadly threat to victims of domestic violence, to law enforcement, and to communities. Common sense as well as federal law dictate that a person who cannot pass a firearm background check should not be able to evade the law by purchasing a “Buy Build Shoot” kit they can quickly convert to a fully functioning firearm. Now that the Supreme Court has agreed, we call on the ATF to keep this rule intact.”