Darren Lyn
12 April 2022•Update: 12 April 2022
HOUSTON, Texas
US President Joe Biden on Monday announced his administration’s plan to reclassify gun kits, also known as ghost guns, to qualify as firearms under the Gun Control Act.
“If you buy a couch you have to assemble, it’s still a couch,” said Biden at a news conference.
Biden then walked over to a display with a gun kit to show how easy it is to build a gun.
“It’s not hard to put together,” he said. “It doesn’t take very long. Anyone can order it in the mail. Anyone. A felon, a terrorist, a domestic abuser can go from a gun kit to a gun in as little as 30 minutes.”
The new classification would require manufacturers to be licensed and include serial numbers on gun kits. In addition, commercial sellers would be required to run background checks before sales of kits. Pawn shops would also have to reclassify the ghost guns before reselling them.
“All of a sudden it’s no longer a ghost, it has a return address, and it’s going to help save lives, reduce crime, and get more criminals off the streets,” he continued, stressing these gun kits “are being treated like the deadly firearms they are.”
The National Rifle Association says the new rule on ghost guns is “extreme” and not “truly sincere” on curbing violent crimes.
"An administration that’s truly sincere and resolute about curbing violent crime rates would do one thing: take violent criminals off the streets immediately," said NRA spokesperson Andrew Arulanandam in a television interview.
“Is it extreme to protect police officers, extreme to protect our children, extreme to keep guns out of the hands of people who couldn’t even pass a background check?” said Biden. “The idea that someone on a terrorist list could purchase one of these guns…it isn’t extreme, just basic common sense.”
Biden cited federal statistics that say law enforcement reported nearly 20,000 suspected ghost guns being used over the past 5 years, which is up tenfold during that time period. He added that law enforcement has only been able to trace less than one percent of ghost guns used at crime scenes.
“These guns are weapons of choice for many criminals,” said Biden. “We’re going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice, and when we find them, put them in jail for a long, long time.”
