The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to freeze a lower court order that bars the government from regulating so-called ghost guns – untraceable homemade weapons – as firearms under federal law.

The brief order grants the Biden administration’s request to allow the regulations to remain in effect while legal challenges play out. …

The vote was 5-4. Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the court’s three liberals to allow the rule to take effect.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would have denied the application.

[The order itself presents no argument or specific dissent. This is a temporary stay of the district court ruling, not a final judgment on it. It seems rather significant, though, that the court allowed the new enforcement to continue. — Ed]