Justice Department proposes rule to curb sale of ‘ghost guns’

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Friday released a proposed rule that would put new restrictions on so-called “ghost guns” — kits that allow buyers to assemble firearms without a serial number - as part of the Biden administration’s push for tighter gun control.

In a news release, the Justice Department said the new rule would require retailers to run background checks before selling kits that allow someone to readily make a gun at home, and it would force manufacturers to include a serial number on a firearm’s “frame or receiver” — the primary structural components of a gun — in easy-to-build kits. That is important because serial numbers help the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives trace guns used in crimes.

The proposed rule also includes new definitions for what constitutes a firearm and its related parts — a first since 1968, the Justice Department said.

“We are committed to taking common sense steps to address the epidemic of gun violence that takes the lives of too many people in our communities,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the proposed rule. “Criminals and others barred from owning a gun should not be able to exploit a loophole to evade background checks and to escape detection by law enforcement. This proposed rule would help keep guns out of the wrong hands and make it easier for law enforcement to trace guns used to commit violent crimes, while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans.”

President Joe Biden previewed a crack down on “ghost guns” in April, when he announced a series of executive actions to curb gun violence. While gun-control groups said they were pleased, the country’s largest pro-gun group, the National Rifle Association, signaled its opposition.

Lars Dalseide, an NRA spokesman, said the Justice Department’s proposed rule “would do nothing to address violent crime while further burdening law-abiding gun owners and the lawful firearm industry with overbroad regulations.” Asserting that the rule would give “an incredible amount of power” to the ATF director, Dalseide pointed to Biden’s nominee for that post: David Chipman, a former ATF agent and now a senior adviser to a gun-control group founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was severely injured in a mass shooting in 2011.

“With President Biden’s nomination of gun control lobbyist and gun ban proponent David Chipman to head the ATF, this rule could give a gun control extremist the ability to destroy the American firearms industry,” Dalseide said.

In the proposed rule, the Justice Department asserts that from January 2016 through December 2020, more than 23,900 suspected privately made firearms were reported to have been recovered by law enforcement from potential crime scenes, including in connection with 325 homicides or attempted homicides.

“Although this rulemaking will solve only one aspect of the problem, we have an obligation to do our part to keep our families and our neighborhoods safe from gun violence,” Garland said in his statement.

The proposed rule still must go through a lengthy public comment process before it is finalized.