{"id":68951,"date":"2021-06-12T21:24:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T02:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=68951"},"modified":"2021-06-12T21:24:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T02:24:27","slug":"68951","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=68951","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Ghost Guns and the Deeply American Tradition of Gun Privacy.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cGhost guns\u201d are the modern manifestation of an American tradition of liberty that stretches back to Lexington and Concord.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.)\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0the Untraceable Firearms Act, a bill that targets \u201cghost guns,\u201d or unregistered firearms without serial numbers.<\/p>\n

Also called \u201ckit\u00a0guns<\/a>\u201d or \u201c80% guns,\u201d most are built at home from manufacturer-produced gun kits. Improvised weapons, also known as \u201cpipe guns,\u201d are another variation, and they\u2019re constructed using 3D-printed parts or salvaged and repurposed materials.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0proposed<\/a>\u00a0law would place strict limitations on the obtainment and manufacture of these guns. For example, it would prohibit building or housing a homemade, 3D-printed firearm, as well as trading a kit gun with a friend. Punishments for an initial violation include fines and up to a year in prison. Subsequent violations can incur up to a five-year sentence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A False Premise<\/span><\/p>\n

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According to Blumenthal,\u00a0the goal<\/a>\u00a0of the act is to \u201censure that violent extremists, domestic abusers, and foreign terrorists can\u2019t evade background checks and other safety measures by building weapons at home instead of buying them from a store.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, the data simply do not support the premise that ghost guns promote violent crime.<\/p>\n

Last month,\u00a0RealClearPolitics<\/em>\u00a0reporter Philip Wegmann asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki for data on how many violent crimes are actually committed with \u201cghost guns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psaki was stumped for an answer,\u00a0but offered<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe experts who are joining us here today have a bunch of data that they could share with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t happen, however. Instead, the White House\u00a0later forwarded<\/a>\u00a0him publically available numbers on how many untraceable guns were confiscated in various states.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the D.C. Attorney General\u2019s Office, Metropolitan Police recovered three ghost guns in 2017, 25 in 2018, and 116 in 2019,\u201d\u00a0RealClearPolitics<\/em>\u00a0reported. \u201cBaltimore City Police reported confiscating 126 ghost guns in 2020. That same year, authorities in Los Angeles said they recovered more than 700 ghost guns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Separate data show other US cities had similarly low figures.<\/p>\n

In Philadelphia, ghost guns accounted for\u00a02.2 percent of confiscated guns in 2019,\u00a0<\/a>The Washington Times<\/a><\/em>\u00a0reported.<\/a>\u00a0In Chicago, that percentage was 1.2 percent in 2020.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a 2019 Department of Justice report based on the 2016 Survey of Prison inmates estimated that 287,400 prisoners had possessed a firearm during their offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong these, more than half (56%) had either stolen it (6%), found it at the scene of the crime (7%), or obtained it off the street or from the underground market (43%),\u201d\u00a0the report said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While 25 percent of prisoners surveyed said they obtained their firearm from a friend or family member as a gift, one category is notably absent from the DOJ report, critics of the policy pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a single one appears to have said he made his own weapon,\u201d Sen. Ted Cruz\u00a0noted<\/a>\u00a0at a recent committee hearing. \u201cHear that again. The Department of Justice asked violent criminals where they got their guns. Zero said it was a so-called ghost gun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite these findings, in May the DOJ\u00a0proposed a rule<\/a> that would redefine the word \u201cfirearm\u201d to crack down on ghost guns. The reclassification would cause gun kits to be regulated to the same extent as manufactured firearms.<\/p>\n

Once again, the legislation is rationalized by the threat of violent crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to taking commonsense steps to address the epidemic of gun violence that takes the lives of too many people in our communities,\u201d said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.<\/p>\n

In their proposal, the DOJ reports that in the last five years, 325 ghost guns were used in connection with homicides or attempted homicide. This number makes up less than 1 percent of homicides that occurred during that period.<\/p>\n