The American Medical Association (AMA) has filed a brief with the Supreme Court in the case of Garland v. VanDerStok, urging the court to uphold an ATF rule concerning unregistered firearm kits. The rule states that these kits, which can be easily converted into functional firearms, fall under the Gun Control Act.

In their brief, the physician organizations stated, “Congress enacted the Gun Control Act… [with] two goals: to ‘prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands’ and to ‘assist law enforcement authorities in investigating serious crimes.’”

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 48,204 people died from firearm-related injuries in 2022. Earlier this year, the U.S. Surgeon General declared firearm violence a public health crisis.

The AMA's brief emphasizes that “the [ATF] rule is designed to keep unregistered firearms commonly referred to as ‘ghost guns’ out of the hands of dangerous criminals requiring commercial manufacturers of covered firearm parts kits, frames, and receivers to obtain federal firearm licenses, mark their products with serial numbers, conduct background checks, and keep transfer records… The Fifth Circuit’s ruling would allow circumvention of the Act’s serialization, recordkeeping, and background check requirements.”

Other organizations supporting this stance include the Texas Medical Association and several other medical societies focused on family medicine, pediatrics, emergency care, obstetrics and gynecology, preventive medicine, and geriatrics.

Since 2016, when it declared firearm-related violence a public health crisis in the United States, the AMA has supported measures aimed at reducing gun deaths and injuries. It also advocates for laws preventing individuals with criminal histories or other disqualifying factors from accessing firearms.

For more information on this issue from an AMA perspective, readers are directed to a recent viewpoint by AMA President Bruce A. Scott.