9th Circuit Tosses California and Giffords: They Couldn’t Prove the Ghost-Gun Rule Wasn’t Harsh Enough

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out California and Giffords’ lawsuit Friday, August 21, 2026, Reuters reported. The groups claimed the Biden-era 2022 ATF “ghost gun” rule was not strict enough: ATF treated partially completed AR-15-style receivers as firearms only when sold with tools or jigs that could finish them, even though buyers could purchase those pieces separately. A 3–0 panel reversed U.S. District Judge Edward Chen’s February 2024 finding that ATF’s interpretation was arbitrary and capricious.

Circuit Judge Eric Tung — a Trump appointee, joined by Biden appointees Holly Thomas and Anthony Johnstone — held California and Giffords did not show the rule caused them harm. California did not prove ATF forced extra law-enforcement training costs or sped its own ghost-gun legislation. Giffords did not prove ATF undermined the group’s core mission or forced extra spending. Most of the alleged harm predated the rule. They could not sue on “speculation” that wrongdoers would exploit the supposed loophole. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Giffords, and the groups’ lawyers did not immediately comment, Reuters said.

The timing is the story. Four days earlier, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth held the same 2022 rule unconstitutional under the Second Amendment and due process — a plaintiff-scoped injunction for Defense Distributed and SAF members. Reuters noted the Trump Justice Department has been defending the rule in that Texas fight even as the administration otherwise expanded gun rights. Gun-control groups lost standing in San Francisco the same week a Texas court said the Constitution still covers the workbench. Two coasts. Two theories. One regulation still in the crosshairs.