SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – Ghost Guns are under attack from President Joe Biden’s administration in an effort to curb gun-related crimes.
First off, what are Ghost Guns?
“It’s a gun that has no serial number on it,” Bullet Hole Co-Owner Francis Misantone said. “You can order it because it’s not considered a firearm, it’s just a receiver.”
A Ghost Gun is basically a Do-It-Yourself gun kit on the market. When you buy it, it’s only 80 percent complete.
“That constitutes not being a firearm according to ATF attorneys,” Misantone said.
Biden’s new rule requires these self-assembled gun kits to have serial numbers to make them legally a firearm. But, Misantone says he doesn’t think this will change the gun-related crimes.
“If you check any of the guns that are used in some of these crimes right now, they are probably not ghost guns,” Misantone said. “They’re probably guns that they stole from somebody’s residence.”
But, according to the White House, last year, there were about 20,000 suspected ghost guns recovered by police and reported to The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) – a tenfold increase from 2016.
“There is too much violence,” Sarasota County Resident Deb Lombard said. “It just keeps getting worse.”
And background checks are not usually required to buy Ghost Guns.
“People that would order that, are people that possibly couldn’t pass a background check,” Misantone said. “I don’t know their reasoning.”
“There are black markets and criminals that get a hold of guns regardless of what the gun laws are,” Sarasota County Resident Donald Robertson II said. “And a regular citizen needs to be able to protect themselves against such criminals.”
While others say this is a step in the right direction.
“I’m all for commonsense gun laws and the ghost law is a good start,” Lombard said.
Misantone says he doesn’t think this new rule is the answer.
“Enforce the laws that are on the book,” Misantone said.
But everyone agrees that the primary goal is to stop gun violence.
Monday, President Biden nominated Steve Dettelbach to serve as director of ATF.
