The Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Garland v. VanDerStok Wednesday, upholding the Biden-era ATF’s rule on “frame or receiver” kits.

Breitbart News reported that the case, Garland v. VanDerStok, is focused on ATF Final Rule 2021-05F. A central part of this rule was redefining what the word “firearm” means so as to designate “partially completed pistol frames” and other gun parts as “firearms.”

During oral arguments in October 2024, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar claimed the ATF’s classification of incomplete frames as “firearms” is in keeping with the same position the government has held for decades.

Prelogar said:

We think the context and purpose of the statute strongly support understanding the term in this way. And the reason for that is because, throughout the federal firearms laws, whenever Congress has itself expressly provided a definition, it has included not only the fully complete and functional item but things that are the item and can readily be made to function that way.

Justice Samuel Alito asked, “Here is a blank pad and a pen. Is this a grocery list?”

Alito followed up by asking, “If I put on a counter some eggs, some chopped up ham, some chopped up pepper and onions, is that a western omelet?”

SCOTUS upheld the ATF’s rule by a 7-2 vote, with Justice Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting.

The case is Garland v. VanDerStok, No 23-852 in the Supreme Court of the United States.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.