Senators urge Justice Department, ATF to clarify, implement ghost guns rule

Responding to attempts by companies to avoid restrictions imposed by the federal Ghost Gun Rule, more than a dozen Democratic senators this week wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to address the matter and crackdown.

“These companies have adopted the position that selling nearly-complete frames and receivers without the tools (commonly known as jigs) or instructions to complete them means that their products are not firearms under federal law,” the senators wrote. “Of the 100 companies previously known to sell unserialized and nearly-complete frames and receivers, dozens remain engaged in that business.”

Ghost guns are unserialized weapons by design, making them largely untraceable. This, coupled with their ease of home assembly – some can be made with 3D printers – and composition often undetectable by metal detectors, has earned them alarm from law enforcement and legislators. The Ghost Gun Rule was an effort to target these weapons by regulating the unfinished frames and receivers that form the core components used to construct them.

Legislators such as U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) alleged that ghost guns are attractive to criminals and extremists and pose severe threats to the public. ATF data has backed this, revealing a stark rise in criminal involvement as their popularity rose. From 2016 to 2021, the recovery of ghost guns at potential crime scenes jumped from 1,758 to 19,344 incidents. Of 23,946 recovered ghost guns it attempted to trace in that time period, the ATF managed to rundown only 151.

Despite this, the senators participating in this letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach maintained that some companies have claimed they can still sell nearly complete frames and receivers as standalone products without tools and other materials and keep from triggering the consequences of the new rule. Companies will also sell those tools and materials separately, though.

Firing back at this, the senators stated the rule is unambiguous: a nearly-complete frame or receiver is still a firearm and should be treated as such.

“The rule does not cover only frames and receivers sold as part of a kit, but also frames and receivers that can be readily completed,” the senators said. “Indeed, enforcing the rule only against sellers of kits would be a colossal loophole…The Ghost Gun Rule was promulgated to stop the proliferation of ghost guns, mitigate the threat these firearms pose to our communities, and help law enforcement—at every level—do their jobs.”

Signatories urged the DOJ and ATF to issue enforcement guidance stating in no uncertain terms that how ATF reviews the readily convertible nature of nearly-complete frames or receivers won’t be limited to the tools, equipment, and instructions included in the same sale but on what of those are available to the general public. They also pressed for details on enforcement actions to be taken against ghost gun companies in violation of the rule.

The letter was led by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).