Photo by Vvzvlad/Wikimedia Commons
Understanding ghost guns requires knowing some basic facts about how guns are constructed. Frames and receivers are the core building blocks of firearms. In a pistol, the frame is the bottom half of the gun, housing the trigger and the magazine. The frame also provides a foundation for the slide and barrel (i.e., the parts a bullet passes through when fired). In a semi-automatic rifle, the receiver houses the trigger parts and magazine and attaches to other parts.
In recent years, companies have used advances in technology to manufacture and sell “firearm parts kits” and “easy-to-complete frames or receivers.” These kits made it simple for anyone with basic tools and internet access to make a do-it-yourself, homemade gun from easy-to-obtain building blocks. These kits—often called “ghost guns”—were previously available for purchase with no background check and no questions asked.
A ghost gun has three key, related characteristics:
- It is unserialized;
- It is untraceable; and
- Its building blocks are acquired without a background check.
Most ghost guns are made from “unfinished” frames and receivers. Unfinished frames and receivers are often marketed as “80 percent” complete. That number suggests a buyer needs to do only 20 percent of the work for the frame or receiver to be assembled into an operable firearm. In reality, these parts can be finished in an hour or so or less.
For years, ghost guns represented the fastest-growing gun safety threat to our communities. Felons, minors, and others who are prohibited from buying firearms were able to acquire ghost guns by simply ordering them over the internet and having them delivered to their doorsteps. They can do so without a background check or verifying their identity, circumventing existing laws.
Ghost guns do not have records or serial numbers. This lack of identification has “severely undermine[d]” law enforcement’s ability to trace guns used in crimes back to their last point of sale to determine their owners. Ghost guns, with their lack of serial numbers, impair “law enforcement’s ability to apprehend violent individuals who may pose an ongoing threat to public safety.” According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), law enforcement agencies recovered 1,758 ghost guns to the ATF for tracing in 2016. In 2021, the number recovered was 19,344—an over 1,000-percent increase.
