On April 11, President Biden announced a new Department of Justice (DOJ) rule to address the prevalence of “ghost guns” or unserialized firearms assembled from kits.
The rule is in response to an increase in the number of suspected privately made, untraceable firearms discovered during criminal investigations. As stated in the White House announcement, “last year alone, there were approximately 20,000 suspected ghost guns reported to ATF as having been recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations – a ten-fold increase from 2016.”
The rule, which takes effect 120 days from its publication by the Federal Register, requires manufacturers of firearms to include serial numbers on all frames and receivers, even those used in firearm kits, and further requires any dealer who comes into possession of an unserialized gun to add a serial number to the firearm. The rule applies traditional firearm regulations to ghost guns by mandating background checks before the sale of a firearm kit and supports law enforcement investigations by extending the length of time retailers must retain their records from 20 years to the length of their license.
The ABA has a longstanding policy promoting gun violence prevention strategies that respect the Second Amendment. In February 2020, the ABA adopted a policy urging federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to make it unlawful for any individual to possess, sell, or transfer an unserialized firearm frame or receiver including those in a firearm kit. The policy also urges governments to require background checks for the purchase of a firearm kit, recordkeeping of the sale or transfer of unfinished frames and receivers, and federal firearm licenses for the possession of an unserialized frame.
A November 2021 Washington Letter article further explains the Administration’s earlier actions on ghost guns and recent federal cases.