Pittsburgh Review

Attorney General Josh Shapiro will be co-leading an amicus brief that will help to close a loophole that allows violent criminals and those who can’t legally buy firearms, buy ghost guns.

According to a July 11 release, Shapiro will lead the coalition of 19 attorney generals to close the loophole. He led the brief along with the New Jersey and Washington D.C. Attorney Generals. The brief was joined by the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. Ghost guns have no serial numbers and can be made at home with kits and weapon parts that can be purchased without a background check. There are new federal rules to ensure that the kits and parts to make ghost guns are regulated the same as any other guns.

“I’ve long been sounding the alarm on ghost guns and how they’re becoming the weapon of choice for criminals,” said AG Shapiro. “For years convicted felons, violent drug dealers, have all been able to buy these guns at gun shows without a background check. With these new federal regulations, we are making it harder for gun kits to end up in the hands of criminals and easier for law enforcement to track crime guns in their investigations. All this helps make Pennsylvania communities safer.”

According to the release, the ATF’s Final Rule clarifies that weapon parts, kits and partially completed frames or receivers are firearms. The Final Rule makes it so these kits and partially completed frames or receivers are subject to background checks and the same serialization as other guns.

The federal rule is that buyers must pass background checks before buying gun kits. This will help law enforcement officers trace self-made guns that would be used in a crime. The new rule also limits the ability for gun trackers to distribute the guns statewide. The release said that recently Pennsylvania has had an increase in the amount of ghost guns recovered by police.