The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued new “ghost gun” rules Friday, which include requiring a background check for “kits that contain the parts necessary for someone to readily make a gun at home.”
A DOJ press released noted the new regulatory proposals would also “require that manufacturers include a serial number on the firearm ‘frame or receiver’ in easy-to-build firearm kits.”
The proposals also require Federal Firearm License holders (FFLs) add a serial number to any previously built or 3D-printed guns that “they take into inventory.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland commented on the proposed changes, saying:
We are committed to taking commonsense steps to address the epidemic of gun violence that takes the lives of too many people in our communities. Criminals and others barred from owning a gun should not be able to exploit a loophole to evade background checks and to escape detection by law enforcement. This proposed rule would help keep guns out of the wrong hands and make it easier for law enforcement to trace guns used to commit violent crimes, while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans. Although this rulemaking will solve only one aspect of the problem, we have an obligation to do our part to keep our families and our neighborhoods safe from gun violence.
The DOJ action comes in response to President Joe Biden’s April 8, 2021, executive orders calling for DOJ action on “ghost guns.”
CNN quoted Biden saying “gun violence in this country is an epidemic” when he put the orders forward.
The new regulations on “ghost guns” would not have hindered, much less prevented, the mass attacks in the Atlanta area (March 16, 2021), Boulder, Colorado (March 22, 2021), or Indianapolis, Indiana, FedEx attack (April 15, 2021.)
NRA media relations director Amy Hunter commented on the DOJ’s proposed regulations, saying:
The proposed rule would do nothing to address violent crime while further burdening law-abiding gun owners and the lawful firearm industry with overbroad regulations. The ATF Director would be given an incredible amount of power under the proposed rule. With President Biden’s nomination of gun control lobbyist and gun ban proponent David Chipman to head the ATF, this rule could give a gun control extremist the ability to destroy the American firearms industry.
The public will have 90 days to comment on the DOJ’s proposed changes to “ghost gun” policies.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.