Crackdown needed on ghost guns

Re-entering the fight on gun control, President Joe Biden is cracking down on so-called ghost guns, which are being recovered from crime scenes in growing numbers across the country.

The Department of Justice, he said, "is making it illegal for a business to manufacture one of these kits without a serial number. ... Illegal for a licensed gun dealer to sell them without a background check." Those are the same requirements, he rightly noted, that any commercially manufactured firearm must meet.

"It's just basic common sense," he said. "If you buy a couch you have to assemble, it's still a couch. If you order a package like this one over here that includes the parts you need, the directions of assembling a functioning firearm, you bought a gun."

Ghost guns are not a new phenomenon, but they have become a favorite of criminals. Privately made or assembled from kits, the various parts lack serial numbers and, once assembled, are not subject to background checks, making it nearly impossible for law enforcement to trace them.

The quality of the kit guns has risen and the ghost gun industry has taken off, thanks to a loophole that has deemed components as being separate from firearms themselves and not subject to the same regulations. According to the Justice Department, nearly 24,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes across the country between 2016 and 2020.

Because firearms made by licensed companies come with serial numbers, they can be traced back to the manufacturer, the dealer and original purchaser. There is no logical reason why kit guns should not be subject to the same requirements. The president is right to require this long overdue change in how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives defines what constitutes a gun.

It's important to note that nothing in this rule would prohibit the sale or assembly of such kit guns, so long as they have the required serial number and background check. It applies to guns assembled through a kit or created by a 3-D printer. Federally licensed dealers or others who acquire a gun lacking a serial number would have to include one before it could be sold.

These are not requirements that should upset or even inconvenience lawful gun owners. Predictably, the National Rifle Association trotted out its same, tired objections, noting that the rule change was "yet another hollow plan that will not stop this violence."

What's hollow is the NRA's argument. This nation is sick to death of the gun violence that has erupted everywhere from churches and schools to nightclubs and subways. It has stolen our collective sense of safety. Other nations that have more sensible controls over deadly weapons may have their problems, but they do not have to contend with repeated gun violence.

This rule change could, at least, give law enforcement another much needed tool in attempting to track down guns and those who used them in the commission of crimes.

There is much to tackle in this country as we seek to rein in gun violence. On Tuesday it happened again: A gunman shot up a New York subway car during morning rush hour, shooting or injuring at least 16 people. In Sacramento earlier this month, a gun battle that broke out between rival gangs in that city's downtown area left six dead and 12 wounded.

Closer to home, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, gunmen opened fire over the weekend in the early morning hours at a nightclub. Two people were killed and 10 wounded, even as officers stood outside the club. In the Twin Cities and across the country, armed carjackings have become increasingly prevalent.