The moves come as armed violence and crime have taken place in the United States, putting pressure on the White House to take action. Gun violence traditionally increases in the summer months, giving Monday’s action a further urgent need. Biden is expected to speak on the new weapons steps at a public event Monday afternoon, according to people who have received invitations. The new rule issued by the Ministry of Justice seeks to curb a type of weapon that has been increasingly observed in crime scenes across the country. Ghost weapon kits can be purchased online and a gun can be built on your own in just 30 minutes. Because regulators cannot detect them, ghost guns are attractive to criminals and those with a criminal record, according to officials. The new rules will require anyone buying a kit to undergo a background check, as is required for other types of firearms purchases. It would also require those selling the kits to mark the parts with a serial number so that any weapons produced can be identified. And it would require firearms dealers to add a serial number to the already made ghost weapons they encounter in their businesses. “The Biden government is taking care of these kits as the deadly firearms they are,” a senior government official said before the announcement. “Guns look like guns, they shoot like guns and they kill like guns, but so far they have not been set up like guns,” John Fineblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. celebrating the Biden government that “doubled its commitment to arms security.” Mia Tretta, who was shot and wounded with a ghost gun in a school shooting in California in 2019, similarly praised the administration for taking “a critical step” with the new regulation. “If you can make an IKEA chest of drawers, you can make a ghost weapon,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it’s so easy to get a gun that has not only changed my life, but has done the same thing to thousands of others. Finalizing this rule is a crucial step in making sure no one else has to go through what has my family had to pass “. The Justice Department has previously launched a national ghost enforcement initiative, which “will train a national prosecutor and disseminate investigative and prosecution tools to help prosecute those who use ghost weapons to commit crimes,” according to White. House. Ghost guns have been used in many recent shootings, including the Maryland High School in January. The exact number released is not known, given the inability of regulators to track them. Between 2016 and 2021, the ATF received 45,000 reports of private firearms recovered from law enforcement, including 692 from homicides or attempted homicides. The agency was able to locate only 1% of them, officials said, because the firearms did not have serial numbers. Many states have moved to curb their sales as ghost weapons become more common at crime scenes. Last week, Maryland merged with Washington, DC and 10 other states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington – or the Prohibition Area. of the use of ghost weapons, which are often purchased online and assembled at home. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer again denounced the use of ghost weapons during a news conference on Sunday, calling for a crackdown on private firearms and talking about a deadly shooting in the Bronx on Friday. The New York Democrat accused the Republicans of suspending gun reform legislation and pressured the Biden administration to go further. “Today I call on the administration to pursue the ghost weapons by issuing regulations that will stop them. The federal government has the power to stop these ghost weapons through regulations,” he said. However, Biden’s planned firearms regulation provoked reactions from gun rights advocates even before it was officially announced. Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs for America’s gun owners, said in a statement on Sunday: of the Second Amendment “. In September, Biden withdrew his candidacy for David Chipman to lead the ATF after facing opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats. Chipman, a former career official at the ATF, has come under scrutiny from gun rights advocates and the National Rifle Association for his work as a senior adviser to the Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords – an organization started by former MP Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot at an event in her Arizona area in 2011. Detelbach ran for attorney general of Ohio in 2018, after serving as U.S. attorney general in the state. “We will work hard to ensure that Steve Dettlebach receives the fair hearing and affirmation he deserves. He should be an undisputed candidate because he has a long history of law enforcement and public safety work for the people of Ohio and “The American people,” said one official. CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
