The Supreme Court has barely begun its new term, but guns are already one of the most dominant issues on the docket. On Tuesday, justices heard oral arguments for one of the most significant cases of the year: Garland v. VanDerStok, a dispute over whether the ATF overstepped in effectively outlawing certain kits used to make homemade, untraceable ghost guns.

The case arose after the ATF began requiring sellers of “ready to build” ghost gun kits to add serial numbers to some parts and conduct background checks on prospective buyers. The regulation came at the direction of President Joe Biden after evidence emerged that ghost guns were increasingly being used in crimes. As The Trace’s Will Van Sant reported this week, there’s a twist in the backstory of VanDerStok: The suit was funded by a dark-money group established by Dale Sutherland, a former cop who once worked to get firearms off the streets of D.C. During arguments, a majority of justices appeared supportive of the ghost gun rule — including during an exchange over an extended metaphor about omelets. 

VanDerStok hasn’t been the only firearm-related case to make waves this past week. Last Friday, the court said that it will consider whether the Mexican government’s lawsuit against some of America’s largest gunmakers, including Glock, Smith & Wesson, and Colt, should be allowed to move forward. The manufacturers are asking justices to undo an appeals court ruling that found Mexico’s litigation doesn’t conflict with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law that protects gunmakers from being held liable for crimes committed with their products. (Trace reporter Champe Barton explained and contextualized the case in February.) 

Also on Friday, Justice Elena Kagan refused to pause a California law banning gun sales at gun shows held on public property. And on Monday, the court declined to hear a challenge to an ordinance in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, that requires gun and ammunition stores to display materials “relating to gun safety, gun training, suicide prevention, mental health, and conflict resolution.”

From The Trace

What to Know Today

In a climate of fear, kids who make apparently threatening statements risk criminal charges. Law enforcement officials say it’s neglectful to dismiss anything that could be a threat. Civil rights advocates and juvenile attorneys point to the fact that young people don’t always understand the actions that get them in trouble. For children with disabilities — like Hasan, a Texan with autism whose education was derailed after he made comments about bringing a gun to school — the stakes are especially high. [The Dallas Morning News] 

As gun violence has become more frequent in schools, some administrators have instituted unproven prevention methods requiring students to carry only clear backpacks, or banning backpacks altogether. One of the consequences: The policies make the already difficult experience of navigating menstruation even more difficult. Some teenagers are going to great lengths to hide their sanitary products. [The Cut] 

In her bid for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris has told Americans that they deserve “the freedom to be safe from gun violence” and said that anyone who breaks into her home is “getting shot.” Sound familiar? Harris, a firearm owner, is leaning into the gun safety issue in a unique way: by co-opting pro-gun rhetoric from the Republican playbook. [The New York Times] 

The FBI estimates that violent crime increased 3.8 percent in California last year, thanks primarily to a massive jump in reported assaults from the Oakland Police Department. The key word there is “reported”: The department acknowledged that the increase was likely “due to human error” in reporting the numbers. The error, which also affected national statistics, illustrates the imprecise nature of crime data. [Jeff Asher] 

Ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an unprecedented executive order barring state and local officials from restricting gun sales during the disaster. No such language was included in Florida disaster declarations for other hurricanes this year, or Hurricane Idalia last year, or Hurricane Ian in 2022. DeSantis’s declaration came after Okeechobee, a South Florida city that declared itself a “Second Amendment sanctuary” in 2020, inadvertently included such restrictions in an order related to Hurricane Helene. [Florida Politics/Orlando Sentinel]

About 700 young Chicagoans held a peace rally outside their elementary school in response to an online threat against the school at the start of the academic year. The community lost one student to gun violence last year. “Our school has been through a lot,” a 12-year-old student said during the event. “I hope the rally will help us come together and bring the peace back.” [Block Club Chicago] 

Ghost gun manufacturer Defense Distributed was rebuffed by a U.S. district judge after accusing California of “partnering” with the gun safety nonprofit Giffords Law Center in a lawsuit and attempting to move the case to Texas. The judge moved the suit, which alleges that the company and two others illegally marketed their products to Californians, back to a state court in San Diego and determined that California, not Giffords Law Center, was the plaintiff. [Courthouse News Service]

Data Point

Roughly 1,110 — the number of Texas children who were referred to the criminal legal system for a misdemeanor charge of threatening to exhibit a firearm at school. The charge doesn’t require the person to display a gun or to have access to one. About half of the cases involve kids ages 10 and 13. [The Dallas Morning News]

Non Sequitur

The Corner Store Comeback: “Small-scale neighborhood retail is staging a post-Covid revival in many cities, thanks to a mix of zoning reforms, shopping trends and local incentives.” [CityLab]

Sunny Sone
Sunny is in charge of our newsletters, leading the growth of existing products and dreaming up new ones. They previously worked as a copy editor at The Intercept and as digital editor for the Texas Observer, and co-published a web-only magazine under the Brick House media cooperative. Sunny has covered topics ranging from the Texas funeral industry to the life of visionary composer Pauline Oliveros. They hold a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.