Understanding the ControversyĪmericans have a long and proud history of private gunsmithing. It’s still illegal for a prohibited person to make a firearm for personal use, or for these unlicensed private gunmakers to “engage in the business” of selling their guns to others.
But not so with the frame or receiver.Īny person or entity “ engaged in the business” of manufacturing or selling firearms-including frames or receivers-has to be licensed by the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, as a federal firearms licensee.įederal firearms licensees are subject to a plethora of regulatory burdens: Their firearms must be marked with individualized serial numbers they must keep extensive records of all firearm sales or transfers and they must conduct background checks on all prospective firearm purchasers.īut Americans who want to build firearms for their own personal use don’t have to become firearms licensees and aren’t subject to those stringent regulations. You can buy or sell any other individual part of a firearm just as easily as you could a bar of soap. In layman’s terms, a gun’s frame or receiver is a hunk of shaped and drilled-out metal that ultimately will house the parts that make the gun fire when it’s all put together. What is a firearm “ frame or receiver,” and why is it so important that Congress decided to regulate it just as it would a completed firearm?Ĭongress didn’t define “frame or receiver” in any statute, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives long ago created rules defining the frame or receiver as “the part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.” It regulates “firearms,” defined as “a weapon which will or is designed to or may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive,” including the weapon’s “frame or receiver.” It’s impossible to understand the controversy over unmarked homemade firearms without first understanding the way federal gun law currently works.įederal law doesn’t regulate the manufacture and sale of every firearm part. In other words, most ghost guns are just homemade firearms. Most commonly, however, the term is used to mean a specific type of unmarked gun-those made by private individuals for personal use, often using a variety of prefabricated or partially unfinished firearm parts. Law enforcement officers often use serial numbers to track guns associated with crimes back to their point of purchase or last known lawful owner.įirearms without serial numbers are ghost guns in the sense that there are no official records of their existence.
The term “ghost gun” refers to a firearm that isn’t marked with an individualized serial number, either because that number has been obliterated illegally or because the firearm is exempt from federal laws that generally require those markings. So what are ghost guns? Why does it seem like everyone suddenly is talking about them? What effect would the new rules have on gun owners?Īnd, most importantly, are these changes something Biden can do without congressional action? What Are ‘Ghost Guns?’ The Justice Department last week finally made public what those new rules would be, setting off a flood of commentary on a technical and oft-misunderstood topic.
We encourage you to dive deeper and learn more about this critical topic.When President Joe Biden announced a plan in mid-February to “ tackle gun violence,” he said he would direct the Justice Department to issue new regulations for so-called ghost guns. We’ve created this page and a downloadable factsheet to compile resources and expert analysis on ghost guns. That’s precisely why criminals, drug traffickers, and gangs are increasingly relying on them.
Building a ghost gun circumvents our entire system of gun safety laws and regulations. But with a drill and a few hours spent watching how-to videos, you can assemble a fully functioning firearm in your basement. Under federal law, an “unfinished” ghost gun part is just a hunk of metal or plastic. That leaves law enforcement without a critical piece of information used to solve crimes.
Unlike a weapon made by a licensed manufacturer, ghost guns don’t have a serial number or other markings. This is a rapidly emerging threat that we must take seriously.
These “do-it-yourself guns” are often assembled from kits easily purchased online-no background check required. If you can build IKEA furniture, you can build a ghost gun.