The measures come as gun violence and crime have increased in the United States, putting pressure on the White House to take action. A spate of shootings over the weekend underscored the emergency: Four people, including two teenagers, were shot Saturday night shortly after a Major League Baseball game in Washington, DC, police said. Six people have been found injured after a shooting in a residential area in Illinois.
Police are also investigating a shooting at a birthday party in Indianapolis that left six people dead and one killed. And two people were also killed and 10 were hospitalized after a “targeted attack” on a nightclub in Cedar Rapids, police say.
Gun violence traditionally increases in the summer months, making Monday’s actions extra urgent.
The new rule issued by the Justice Department aims to curb a type of weapon increasingly seen at crime scenes across the country. Ghost rifle kits can be purchased online and a weapon can be crafted yourself in just 30 minutes. Because regulators can’t trace them, officials say ghost weapons are attractive to criminals and those with criminal histories.
Under the new rules, anyone purchasing a kit must undergo a background check, as is required for other types of firearms purchases. It would also require those selling the kits to mark components with a serial number so that the final weapon produced can be traced. And it would require firearms dealers to add a serial number to pre-built ghost guns they come across in their business.
“The Biden administration is making sure these kits are treated like the deadly firearms they are,” a senior government official said ahead of the announcement.
“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun and they kill like a gun, but until now they are not regulated like a gun,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. celebrating the Biden administration for “doubling its commitment to weapons security”.
Mia Tretta, who was shot and wounded with a ghost rifle in a 2019 shooting at a California school, also praised the government for taking “a crucial step” with the new ordinance.
“If you can put together an IKEA dresser, you can build a ghost gun,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it’s so easy to get a weapon that has not only changed my life, but has done the same for thousands of others. Completing this line is a critical step to ensure that no one else has to endure what my family went through. had to endure.”
Ghost guns have been used in several recent shootings, including at a Maryland high school in January. The exact number in circulation is unknown, given the inability of regulators to track them.
Between 2016 and 2021, the ATF received 45,000 reports of police recovered private firearms, including 692 of homicides or attempted homicides. The agency was only able to trace 1% of them, officials said, because the firearms have no serial numbers.
Multiple states have moved to curtail their sales as ghost weapons are more common at crime scenes.
The New York Democrat blamed Republicans for holding back gun reform legislation while pressuring the Biden administration to move forward. “Today I call on the government to go after phantom weapons by enacting regulations that will stop them. The federal government has the opportunity through regulation to stop these phantom weapons,” he said.
Still, Biden’s planned firearms regulations met backlash from gun rights advocates even before they were officially announced.
Aidan Johnston, the director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, said in a statement Sunday: “Biden’s proposal to create a comprehensive national gun registry and end the online sale of gun parts without the approval of a new law, illustrates his disdain for the Second Amendment.”
Chipman, a former careers official at ATF, has been criticized by gun rights advocates and the National Rifle Association for his work as a senior advisor to Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords – the organization founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot during an event in her Arizona district in 2011.
Dettelbach unsuccessfully ran for Ohio Attorney General in 2018 after serving as a U.S. attorney in the state.
“We will work hard to ensure Steve Dettelbach gets the honest hearing and affirmation he deserves. He should be a non-controversial candidate as he has a long track record in law enforcement and public safety.” of the people of Ohio and the American people,” said one of the officials.
DailyExpertNews’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.