Colorado teen hoping for lakeside homecoming photos shot in face by town councilman, police say

DENVER (AP) — A teenager scouting out a spot near a Colorado lake to take picturesque homecoming photos this weekend was shot in the face when the boyfriend of the property owner fired his weapon and yelled, “Oh sh__, my gun went off,” court records show.

The 17-year-old boy survived the shooting and told investigators he didn't believe the man intentionally shot him. But the man who shot him, Brent Metz, a councilman in a tiny town in the Denver metro area, was arrested on suspicion of charges that include first degree assault.

Metz did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A phone number or attorney for Metz were not immediately found. He is a councilman in the town of Mountain View.

The victim's friend told investigators they had hopped the fence on the property to ask the homeowners permission to take photos the coming weekend. Knocking on the door and looking around back to no avail, they headed back to their car to write a note for the homeowner.

Around that time, Metz received a call from his girlfriend, the property owner, who said there were trespassers, according to law enforcement. Metz drove up to the property as the two boys were sitting in their car.

Exiting his truck, Metz leveled a gun at the two boys and fired through the windshield, the teenagers told law enforcement. The shot left one of the boys bleeding profusely from his face, a piece of his mouth missing, as his friend ran around the car and used his shirt to stanch the bleeding, the friend told investigators.

Metz tried to help them, but the friend said he pushed Metz away.

A scan at the hospital showed a possible bullet fragment still in the teenager's head, according to court records. Metz was arrested on charges of first degree assault, felony menacing, illegal discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment.

Motorcyclists gesture to each other as they pass in the 23000 block of Pleasant Park Road where a teenager, who was scouting for a location for lakeside homecoming photos, was shot in the face by a town councilman, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, near Conifer, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A motorist guides a pickup truck along the 23000 block of Pleasant Park Road where a teenager, who was scouting for a location for lakeside homecoming photos, was shot in the face by a town councilman, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, near Conifer, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A pickup truck moves along the 23000 block of Pleasant Park Road where a teenager, who was scouting for a location for lakeside homecoming photos, was shot in the face by a town councilman earlier this week, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, near Conifer, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A sign off Highway 285 points motorists to Pleasant Park Road where a teenager, who was scouting for a location for lakeside homecoming photos, was shot in the face earlier this week by a town councilman, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, near Conifer, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear a challenge Tuesday to a Biden administration regulation on ghost guns, the difficult-to-trace weapons with an exponentially increased link to crime in recent years.

The rule is focused on gun kits that are sold online and can be assembled into a functioning weapon in less than 30 minutes. The finished weapons don't have serial numbers, making them nearly impossible to trace.

The regulation came after the number of ghost guns seized by police around the country soared, going from fewer than 4,000 recovered by law enforcement in 2018 to nearly 20,000 in 2021, according to Justice Department data.

Finalized after an executive action from President Joe Biden, the rule requires companies to treat the kits like other firearms by adding serial numbers, running background checks and verifying that buyers are 21 or older.

The number of ghost guns has since flattened out or declined in several major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Baltimore, according to court documents.

But manufacturers and gun-rights groups challenged the rule in court, arguing it's long been legal to sell gun parts to hobbyists and that most people who commit crimes use traditional guns.

They say the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives overstepped its authority. "Congress is the body that gets to decide how to address any risks that might arise from a particular product,” a group of more than two dozen GOP-leaning states supporting the challengers wrote in court documents.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas agreed, striking down the rule in 2023. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld his decision.

The administration, on the other hand, argues the law allows the government to regulate weapons that “may readily be converted” to shoot. The 5th Circuit's decision would allow anyone to “buy a kit online and assemble a fully functional gun in minutes — no background check, records, or serial number required. The result would be a flood of untraceable ghost guns into our nation’s communities,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote.

The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration last year, allowing the regulation to go into effect by a 5-4 vote. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the court’s three liberal members to form the majority.

Denise Wieck and her son Guy Boyd, who was shot in the eye with a ghost gun, pose in Ypsilanti, Mich., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Supreme Court to hear challenge to ghost-gun regulation

Supreme Court to hear challenge to ghost-gun regulation

FILE — Ghost guns are displayed at the headquarters of the San Francisco Police Department, in San Francisco, Nov. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)