Blumenthal Welcomes DOJ Rulemaking on "Ghost Guns"

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement applauding new rulemaking issued by the Department of Justice to help law enforcement protect the public from untraceable, homemade firearms, known as “ghost guns”:

“This new rule will help stop a surging menace of homemade, untraceable deadly weapons. It’s a historic step in applying Presidential power against gun violence.”

“This straightforward new rule is based on one fundamental and inescapable fact: a homemade gun is still a gun. An assault weapon built from a kit ordered off the internet can kill just as many people as one bought in a store – only the DIY version doesn’t require an ID, licensing, or a background check. This new rule will not stop anyone who is legally allowed to own a firearm from purchasing one or building one at home. It will simply allow law enforcement to trace crime guns and finally take action against those who are using a loophole in the law to stockpile weapons they are not legally allowed to have.”

“Next week, I’ll be holding a hearing in the Constitution Subcommittee on these so-called ‘ghost guns’ and legislation Congress must consider to close this glaring loophole for good.”

In March, Blumenthal joined U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in urging President Biden to take executive action to close the “ghost gun” loophole in the Gun Control Act, which allows individuals—including domestic abusers, prohibited buyers, gun traffickers, and domestic terrorists—to buy untraceable, unserialized firearms without a federal background check. A copy of the letter is available here.

Blumenthal is the lead Senate sponsor of the Untraceable Firearms Act, which would include ghost guns and their core building blocks – unfinished frames and receivers – and the gun-making kits used to build them in the definition of “firearm” under federal law. In doing so, online gun kit manufacturers and distributors would be required to comply with the same federal regulations that govern the production and distribution of completed firearms.  This includes a requirement that sellers have a manufacturer’s license and put a serial number on the frame or receiver included in each kit, and that purchasers undergo a background check.  The bill also incorporates the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act, which would prohibit firearms that can be easily modified to be pass through metal detectors undetected.

-30-