Biden announces crackdown on ‘ghost guns,’ reveals new ATF pick
April 11, 2022
President Biden announced on April 11, 2022, that he will formally unveil new executive actions targeting so-called “ghost guns
President Biden on Monday announced rules to curtail the production of unlicensed “ghost guns” and nominated former federal prosecutor Steve Dettlebach to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as he renewed a push for gun restrictions.
One of the new regulations requires that so-called “buy build shoot” kits be produced by licensed gun manufacturers and include serial numbers. Commercial sellers of the kits must also receive a federal license and run background checks on buyers.
“These guns are weapons of choice for many criminals,” Biden said in the Rose Garden, holding up gun parts while condemning the homemade weapons. “We’re going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice. And when we find them, put them in jail for a long, long time.”
Most gun crimes are prosecuted by state officials, but Biden vowed Monday that “If you commit a crime in the ghost gun, expect federal prosecution — not just state, expect federal prosecution.”
For years, gun enthusiasts, political libertarians and criminals exploited a loophole that allowed them to assemble untraceable “ghost guns” by purchasing most firearm parts without the usual background checks. For example, AR-15 semiautomatic rifle components could be bought with ease without extensive paperwork. The exception was the gun’s lower receiver, which could be fashioned from a partially finished piece of metal.
The president also announced that he would nominate Dettelbach, a former US attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to serve as ATF director, a position that requires Senate confirmation.
President Biden’s crackdown on “ghost guns” comes after several shootings involving the weapons
Biden repeatedly referred to the ATF as the “AFT” during the Rose Garden event, mistakenly using the acronym for the American Federation of Teachers union.
“Steve is immensely qualified. He served the Department of Justice for two decades. He worked side by side to support the work of federal, state and local law enforcement, including AFT agents,” Biden said, adding, “I’d like to introduce my nominee to lead the AFT to you — all of you. Steve, come on up here.”
The president then jokingly noted the height of Dettlebach’s 16-year-old son David — saying, “if he’s 16 years old, I want to draft him.”
A frame for a Maverick-V2 revolver is printed on an Ender 3 printer in Florida on February 14, 2022
NYPD
statistics show a 351% increase in the number of ghost guns recovered
by police so far this year. At least 131 of the makeshift firearms were
seized between January 1, 2022, and April 6, 2022
It was unclear if Biden meant that he wanted to draft the teen for the military or a sports team, but his father seemed to think the latter, joking, “Is there any agent in the house?”
As the event ended, one Rose Garden guest held up a protest sign opposing US arms exports. The sign said, “US weapons are most deadly abroad.”
Biden’s initial ATF nominee, David Chipman, flopped last year after failing to win the support of moderate Democratic senators who questioned his support for gun rights.
The new “ghost gun” regulation is likely to be challenged in court, which could delay or prevent its implementation.
The Biden administration claimed in a release that individuals can assemble a ghost gun within 30 minutes without clearing the hurdles required by purchasers of traditional firearms.
Under the new rules, dealers who take ghost guns into their inventory from private individuals must put a serial number on the weapon before selling it to another customer.
The
White House is also requiring all federally licensed firearms dealers
to keep key records of sales until they close their business – after
which they must hand the documents over to the ATF
“This requirement will apply regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers,” the White House said.
The White House is also requiring all federally licensed firearms dealers to keep key records of sales until they close their business — after which they must give the document to the ATF, a move the feds say will make it easier to trace firearms found at crime scenes. Dealers previously could destroy most records after 20 years.
The restrictions were announced three days after 16-year-old Anellyh Yambo was shot and killed while walking home from school in the South Bronx with what cops believe was a ghost gun. Two other teens were also shot and are expected to survive. Jeremiah Ryan, 17, was charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon on Saturday.
“These guns are too easy to build, too hard to trace, and too dangerous to be on our streets,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters in Manhattan on Sunday. “Just ask the family of that beautiful 16-year-old who was killed in the Bronx.”
Schumer praised the White House announcement Monday, saying, “This new federal rule will help police exorcise these ghost guns from our streets and crack down on violent gun crimes.”
NYPD statistics show a 351% increase in ghost guns recovered by police this year. At least 131 were seized between Jan. 1 and Wednesday — compared to just 29 during the same period in 2021.
However, ghost guns comprise a relatively small percentage of overall guns used for crime. NYPD statistics show that 225 of the homemade weapons were seized last year through Dec. 3 — a small fraction of the 6,292 firearms confiscated by cops.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) took issue with the new restrictions, tweeting Sunday night: “The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to prevent you from making your own firearm. This [is] a fact that has been recognized for 200+ years. Also, Article 1, Section 1 (literally the first operative sentence in the Constitution) says Congress makes law, not POTUS!”
Biden also called on Congress to pass laws to ban what he called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and to mandate background checks for all private gun transfers. He also said Congress should impose a blanket ban on owning guns without serial numbers and repeal liability protections for gunmakers.
Congress rarely passes gun policy legislation because of the qualms of Democratic centrists and Senate rules that require 60 votes for most policy bills — meaning most change takes place through regulation. In 2018, for example, the Trump administration banned “bump stocks” that hasten the firing rate of semiautomatic rifles after that tool was used to murder 60 people at a Las Vegas concert.
2 comments:
This is kind of like double-secret probation. Pile more and more laws on top of the laws already on the books. All they do is mess with honest law-abiding citizens. Criminals don't obey the laws. That's why we call them criminals. It's useless feel-good horse shit.
What about a 79% receivers or just blocks of aluminum?
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