The weapons, that are assembled at dwelling and lack monitoring numbers, have been more and more recovered at crime scenes.
United States President Joe Biden is about to announce a brand new Division of Justice (DoJ) rule meant to crack down on so-called “ghost weapons“.
The weapons, which might be purchased as kits to be assembled at dwelling and lack federal monitoring serial numbers, have been more and more recovered at crime scenes throughout the US in recent times, in keeping with the White Home.
In 2021, legislation enforcement companies reported 20,000 recovered suspected ghost weapons to The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The determine represented a ten-fold enhance from 2016.
“These are the prison’s weapon of alternative,” a Biden administration official, talking on situation of anonymity, advised reporters in a preview of the announcement.
The brand new DoJ rule says that producers of some kinds of “ghost gun” kits – often called “purchase, construct, shoot” kits – will likely be topic to the identical restrictions as firearm producers beneath the Gun Management Act. That will require producers of the kits to get federal licenses and embody serial numbers on key elements of the weapon.
The rule would additionally require federally licensed sellers and gunsmiths who obtain weapons with out serial numbers to “serialise” the weapon with federal authorities earlier than promoting it to a buyer.
It additionally seeks to shut loopholes to be able to make sure that all firearms are topic to federal registration, even these the place key firing elements are bought in a number of components.
In the meantime, the rule requires firearms sellers to retain key paperwork till they exit of enterprise. They’d beforehand been permitted to destroy most information after 20 years.
Biden had referred to as on the DoJ to situation guidelines associated to ghost weapons in April 2021 following a spate of mass shootings, which have turn into frequent within the US in current a long time.
He has referred to as on Congress to cross sweeping federal gun management measures however has confronted an uphill battle on the politically fraught situation.
The White Home additionally introduced on Monday that Biden would identify former federal prosecutor Steve Dettelbach to function Director of ATF.