Ghost guns. A primer.

[WarGamer]

Seen quite a bit of disinfo out there today.

A few clarifications.

1) What IS a ghost gun?

All guns are assembled with many parts. By law, most of the parts are NOT a gun. For example, a set of wooden grips for your Colt Python is not a gun. Anyone can buy a set of wooden grips.

Right now, barrels, stocks, handgrips, sights, etc... are not legally categorized as GUNS.

For decades, the part of the gun containing the trigger, the part that makes gun go boom has ALWAYS been required to have a serial number and is LEGALLY considered a GUN.

The GCA of 1968 ALLOWS a "80% receiver" to be sold without a serial number, NOT as a gun. The laws were subsequently changed and they WERE considered guns until 2006 when the ATF said "nope, they're not guns".

An 80% receiver is the part of a gun that makes the gun go boom. But it's not able to do that out of the box. It requires machining and assembly to make it work.

2) Ghost guns are already ILLEGAL in many States, like California but the State is FLOODED with them.


Clmaping down on "ghost guns" would simply outlaw the mfg and sale of "80% lowers" but would still allow the untraceable purchase of every other part of a gun.


https://www.lawfareblog.com/legal-landscape-ghost-guns-and-potential-reforms

[MichMan]

1. So what % of murders are currently committed by ghost guns?

25 % ?

50% ?

Trying to determine the affect of the new orders on reducing gun violence.

[WarGamer]

2. a tiny fraction.

[AndyS]

3. WTF difference does it make?

Classify it as a gun, treat it as such because THAT'S WHAT THE DAMN THING IS!

The ONLY reason anyone buys an 80% is to avoid a background check. Why would one want to avoid a background check? Got a good answer for that?

[MichMan]

5. If the reason behind issuing the new order is to have a big effect on gun violence, it matters.

If it has a very negligible effect, than it really didn't matter very much.

[AndyS]

7. At what level should we take note?

50 dead, 150 wounded?

200 dead, 300 wounded?

Pick a fucking number so I know when you begin to give a shit about your fellow man.

[LanternWaste]

6. The undercurrent is, as always, there is nothing we can do...

and that victims of gun violence are merely a small price we pay for the second amendment. So we may as well discredit any and all steps.

Same song, different melody. Every time. Bang, bang. Shoot, shoot.

An implicit sentiment pushed on DU since 2001 with the aggressiveness of a street dealer.

[Groundhawg]

4. a few

[AndyS]

11. Don't know about murder specifically but

According to the ATF, 30 percent of all guns now recovered by agents in [CA] are unserialized. And without a serial number, they cannot be traced in criminal investigations.

So roughly a third of crime guns in CA.

Does that get your attention?

[Kingofalldems]

8. Looks like the wrong forum from here.

[Atticus]

9. Contrary to your post, what Biden is doing does NOT "simply outlaw the mfg and sale of '80%

lowers' ". You fail to mention that Biden will outlaw the "gun kits" now available on line and which provide all the parts and instructions necessary to "build your own gun".

You also did not mention that ghost guns are popular with criminals and terrorists, their sales have spiked in the last three years and 30% of the firearms seized by the ATF in 2020 were ghost guns. All of this was noted in the article you cited but not mentioned in your OP.

[WarGamer]

10. I covered the kit part.

Nothing can be done about ANY of the parts except the 80% lower.

Would take a major change of the LAW to make barrels, triggers, sights, stocks and handgrips classified as "guns".

Of course "ghost guns" are used by criminals.

I was just addressing some of the parts that people were confused about.

No one is confused about the fact that untraceable guns are bad.