President Biden to Announce New Regulations To Combat Ghost Guns Amid Rising Gun Violence

On Monday, President Joe Biden will announce new federal regulations to reduce the use of ghost guns that are appearing at crime scenes across the country.

These new rules will affect firearms assembled from do-it-yourself kits purchased online or at a store. Since there is no serial number on the weapons, the owners are difficult to track down.

Senior administration officials briefed reporters before Biden’s announcement that the new regulations clarify that the unfinished parts in the kits will qualify as firearms as defined by federal law.

As part of the licensing requirements, commercial manufacturers and sellers of the kits will be required to include serial numbers on their frames and receivers. Commercial sellers will also be required to run background checks on buyers before selling their products.

Additionally, Biden will announce that he has nominated Steve Dettelbach, a former U.S. attorney from Ohio, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency that enforces the nation’s gun laws.

After months of stalling due to resistance from Republicans and some Democrats in the Senate, Biden withdrew his first nominee for the job, gun-control champion David Chipman.

Biden’s decision to address “ghost guns” comes as Democrats in Congress are exerting greater pressure to crack down on gun deaths and violent crime.

Last May, the ATF proposed a new regulation that would expand the statutory definition of a firearm to include ghost gun parts. For nearly a year, the regulation has been working its way through the federal regulatory process. The agency’s final regulation will be announced in Monday’s announcement.

Additionally, Biden will urge Congress to prohibit the sale and possession of “ghost guns.”

Immediately following the announcement of the new rules, the gun-rights group, Gun Owners of America, vowed to sue to stop the new regulations because they violate the Second Amendment.

According to the director of federal affairs, Aidan Johnston, Biden is accused of trying to create a national gun registry and end the online sale of gun parts without passing new legislation.

In response, the group called on Congress to overturn the rule using the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to veto federal regulations.

“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushes for gun control and against gun violence.

Feinblatt applauded the administration “for doubling down on its commitment to gun safety by taking action to rein in ghost guns and nominating an ATF director who will end its culture of complicity with the gun industry.”