Faced with Republican opposition over the passage of gun control legislation, President Biden announced on Thursday a series of steps he could take to address the spread of gun violence. The most significant proposal was the crackdown on the proliferation of so-called ghost pistols, firearms assembled in-house and which do not carry serial numbers. "I want to see these kits treated as firearms under the Gun Control Act "Biden said.
What is a ghost gun?
Traditional firearms are manufactured by licensed companies and then purchased from licensed gun dealers. All U.S.-made guns, as well as those imported from overseas, have serial numbers that are displayed on the back of the frame. Conversely, a ghost pistol is manufactured in several parts and can be assembled at home. The components of a ghost gun are easy to find online. These components are sold online, the DIY kit is famous. The gun is 80% complete and buyers need to assemble the last 20% by themselves. The key point is that phantom guns have no serial numbers, vital information for law enforcement to track down the gun manufacturer and original purchaser. Ghost pistols are untraceable and because of how they are sold - as parts that need to be assembled - under current rules, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives do not treat them as they would traditional firearms.
How difficult are they to assemble? It is easy and relatively inexpensive to assemble them. According to a report by Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization for the prevention of armed violence, an AR-15 construction kit costs up to $ 345. An online vendor assured that “the time to assemble it doesn't take too long, about two hours ". Kits usually come with directions on how to build a gun complete with tutorials on YouTube. Typically, the only tool needed is a drill, and kits are often sold with the necessary bits. Many ghost pistols are also sold with a mask, which fits into the frame and helps turn the design into something like "mannequin weapon assembly". One site claimed the mask could be used to complete a gun "in less than 15 minutes with excellent results." According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the top five videos on YouTube attracted more than three million views.
Although gun assembly kits were sold starting in the 90s, the market didn't really take off until 2009. The ghost gun problem didn't become known until 2013, when one of these guns was linked to a gun. shooting at Santa Monica College in California, which resulted in the deaths of six people, including the gunman. Sales began to grow significantly around 2016, when buyers began purchasing kits to assemble the 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol.
There is not enough data to establish how many phantom guns are in circulation because they do not have serial numbers and no checking is required prior to purchase. But some indicators show that their market appears to be growing year on year, especially in states like California that have strict gun laws. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, law enforcement recovered about 10.000 ghost guns in 2019. In Philadelphia, for example, 250 ghost guns were recovered in 2020, up from 99 in 2019. In Baltimore, 126 guns last year, up from 29 in 2019.
Some mass shootings have been linked to ghost guns, including one at a high school in California in 2019 when a 2017-year-old killed two students. A ghost gun has also been linked to a XNUMX murder in which a man killed his wife and four other people in Northern California. But analysts say ghost guns are not yet widely linked to mass shootings. The more serious problem is that they are disproportionately affecting daily violence in the community of color.