WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – President Joe Biden unveiled a new rule to rein in so-called ghost weapons and ban the manufacturing of untraceable firearms on Monday (April 11) because the administration faces rising strain to crack down on gun deaths and violent crime within the United States.
Ghost weapons are privately made firearms that aren’t marked with a serial quantity and are troublesome for legislation enforcement to hint when used to commit a criminal offense.
The Department of Justice’s last rule has been making its approach by the federal regulation course of for almost a 12 months and is probably going to draw opposition and litigation from gun advocates within the coming weeks.
“These guns are weapons of choice for many criminals,” Biden stated throughout an occasion within the White House Rose Garden. “We’re going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice.”
The rule would make it unlawful for companies to manufacture such kits and not using a serial quantity and for a licensed gun vendor to promote them and not using a background examine, Biden stated.
The rule is a part of a collection of measures introduced by Biden and the Justice Department in April final 12 months to tackle rising gun violence within the United States and curb mass shootings.
In 2021, there have been about 20,000 suspected ghost weapons reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) as having been recovered by legislation enforcement in legal investigations – a tenfold improve from 2016, in accordance to statistics shared by the White House.
The Justice Department rule bans unserialised “buy build shoot” kits that people should purchase on-line or at a retailer and not using a background examine and might readily assemble right into a working firearm in as little as half-hour with tools they’ve at house. It additionally turns some ghost weapons already in circulation into serialised firearms.
Gun deaths elevated in 2021 over 2020, in accordance to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive.
In 2021 there have been 20,726 gun deaths within the United States, not counting suicides by gun, the group reported. This included 693 mass shootings, outlined by 4 or extra individuals being shot, and claimed 702 lives and injured greater than 2,800 individuals, the group reported.
Biden additionally nominated Steve Dettelbach, a former US lawyer from Ohio, to run ATF.
