ATF 2021R-05 : Stop Ghost Guns

Position: Support Status: ATF Rule Change

The ATF has proposed a change in rules to stop the sale of ghost guns. Those changes are:

-Businesses that make ghost gun parts and businesses that sell those parts or gun kits would need to be licensed under federal law as gun dealers.
-The main parts of the gun kits must have serial numbers.
-People who buy gun kits or the gun parts must pass a background check before buying the kit or part.

Update

Comments on this ATF rule change may be made until Thursday, August 19, 2021.

Ghost guns are real guns. Tell the ATF to regulate ghost guns!
COMMENT PERIOD ENDS THURSDAY, AUGUST 19

Click here to submit your comment to the ATF.

Please feel free to write your own comment or to copy and past these sample comments:

  • Ghost guns are real guns. I support the ATF rule change (ATF 2021R-05) to regulate do-it-yourself gun kits and parts.
  • From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2020, approximately 23,906 suspected ghost guns were reported to ATF as having been recovered by law enforcement from potential crime scenes. (The Federal Register) I support the ATF rule change ATF 2021R-05. 
  • Ghost guns kill people. In July 2020, an individual who was prohibited from possessing guns allegedly murdered two people in Pennsylvania using a homemade 9mm handgun. CBS 21 News  The ATF should enact ATF 2021R-05 to save lives.
  • In November 2019, a 16-year-old shot five of his classmates at Saugus High School in California—two of them fatally—using a homemade handgun, before fatally shooting himself. (Saugus teen uses ghost gun in deadly shooting) The ATF should enact ATF 2021R-05 to save lives.

What’s a ghost gun?
A ghost gun can be made from a do-it-yourself kit or a 3D printer–without a serial number. People who are not legally allowed to buy guns can buy these kits and make their own guns.

What will the ATF do?
The ATF has proposed a change in rules to stop the sale of ghost guns. Here’s what those changes are:

  • Businesses that make ghost gun parts and businesses that sell those parts or gun kits would need to be licensed under federal law as gun dealers. 
  • The main parts of the gun kits must have serial numbers.
  • People who buy gun kits or the gun parts must pass a background check before buying the kit or part.

How are guns made without a serial number?

  • Guns can be legally made from DIY gun kits that aren’t required to have serial numbers. In fact, these gun kits can be sold without a background check even though they are meant to be easily made into guns. 
  • 3D printed guns can be made without serial numbers–so there’s no way to trace these guns. That’s why criminals like them.