DOJ Implements Regulation to Treat Firearm kits as Actual Firearms
The Department of Justice recently finalized a rule that requires individuals who purchase gun parts kits to be subject to a background test as if they were purchasing a firearm. The intention behind this rule change is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to crack down on so-called “ghost guns.”
The term “ghost gun” is a term used mainly to describe a firearm that is built for personal use. Since the firearm is built by the individual, it does not have a serial number. Former law required that any person who purchases a firearm from a federal firearms license dealer must be subject to a background check. But when a person purchases what’s referred to as a “parts kit” or an 80 percent parts kit,” they are not required to go through a background check.
A parts kit, put simply, is an incomplete firearm that requires the owner to finish building it to make it functioning. It is not an extremely difficult process, but it is also not easy. Some knowledge of firearm mechanics and gunsmithing is required. Because they are being built, these parts kits are do not have serial numbers. These kits have not required background checks in the past because, well, they’re not actually weapons.
Under the new rule, the DOJ is also requiring that the part of the gun with the serial number include the frames and receivers (the main components of the parts kit). The rule also requires licensed firearm dealers to put serial numbers on any 3D-printed firearm that is added to their inventory.
The narrative on the left is that guns without serial numbers are untraceable and thus more dangerous than guns that do. But even guns that do have serial numbers can often be impossible to trace. Many criminals buy their guns off the black market that were originally stolen. Criminals can also simply scratch the serial number off their guns. There’s also the fact that a person can trade or sell their gun privately, making the serial number only traceable to the first person who bought it.
Most individuals who purchase a parts kits are hobbyists that treat firearms as a hobby similar to working on car engines. The crackdown on ghost guns will do little to stop crime and will be more of an inconvenience to law-abiding gun enthusiasts.
