![]() Ghost guns are the logical result of a loophole in the law that specifies what does and what does not require a serial number. ![]() Ghost guns are a way around those rules and around that legitimate sales channel. When those dealers follow the rules, it helps the cause of gun violence prevention. For one thing, a ghost gun kit for a Polymer80 Glock pistol can cost only two-thirds as much as an equivalent, finished, serialized Glock, removing an important barrier to purchase.įor another, the trade in ghost guns effectively pushes out regulated firearm dealers who, by and large, regulate themselves and one another. The marketplace realities of ghost guns are also dangerous. Purchasing such a kit doesn’t require a background check, so the people we had in mind when we worked for background-check laws can obtain one.Without a serial number, it cannot be traced when it is used in a crime.They then have a lethal weapon without a serial number.Ī ghost gun is dangerous for a variety of reasons: So, among other things, it does not require a serial number, the way a finished part does.Ī ghost gun starts out as components that, with readily available tools and minimal mechanical expertise, people can take from that 80 percent to 100 percent. What is a ghost gun? Why is it dangerous?Ī ghost gun is an untraceable, unserialized firearm made from a kit.Īt the heart of most such kits is an unfinished part known as an “80% receiver,” “80% finished,” “receiver blank,” “80% complete” or “unfinished receiver.” (Note that ATF does not use or endorse the terms I’m using here to describe ghost guns.) A ghost gun is made from that unfinished part, which doesn’t meet the definition of “firearm frame” or “receiver” found in the federal Gun Control Act of 1968. That’s why ghost guns have gone from a blip on my radar screen to the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. Its Los Angeles field office says that they make up 41 percent. ![]() Now, the Glendale, California, office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) says that ghost guns make up 30 percent of its confiscated firearms. But I’ve had my eye on ghost guns for years, ever since I was in law enforcement. People who know me know that I’m not usually given to dramatic statements like that. Everything we’ve been working on in California for the last 30 years in gun violence prevention is being undermined by ghost guns.
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