Under Pressure, the Biden Administration Is Cracking Down on “Ghost Guns”

“No more waiting on these proposed federal rules.”

A ''ghost gun'' at 10th Avenue near 211th Street in Manhattan on Sept. 27, 2021, where police shot a gunman earlier in the day.Luiz Ribeiro/TNS via Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The Biden administration plans to release a new rule restricting “ghost guns” as soon as Monday, the Associated Press reported.

Ghost guns, untraceable firearms often made from parts bought online and assembled at home, are increasingly being used in shooting and showing up at crime scenes, part of a rise in murders and violent crime. The feds and some states are scrambling to keep up. Maryland on Friday joined 10 other mostly Democratic-leaning states and Washington, D.C. in banning or restricting the purchase or use of ghost guns. 

The new proposed federal regulation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, would change the definition of a firearm to include unfinished parts, like a handgun frame, that can be assembled into a gun. The ATF also wants to require dealers who sell ghost gun parts to be licensed by the federal government, to require they include serial numbers on the parts, and mandate that buyers of gun components pass background checks. The new proposal updates a draft regulation first proposed nearly a year ago. Democrats are pushing the Biden administration to move faster.

“No more waiting on these proposed federal rules,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement Sunday. Ghost guns are “too easy to build, too hard to trace and too dangerous to ignore.”

Pro gun groups are expected to oppose the proposed rule in litigation.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate