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Related: About this forumFor those who don't believe in ghosts
Good video from the NYT.
Any opinions on ghost guns?
Care to share?
Ghost gun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_gun
In the United States, a ghost gun is a firearm made by an individual, without serial numbers or other identifying markings. The term is used by gun control advocates, gun rights advocates, law enforcement, and some in the firearm industry. By making the gun themselves, owners may legally bypass background checks and registration regulations. Under U.S. federal law, the creation and possession of ghost guns by individuals for personal use is allowed. In contrast, firearms for sale or distribution must bear manufacturer's markings and unique serial numbers, and a federal license is required to manufacture them.Some states have passed laws restricting ghost guns.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000006827740/ghost-guns-untraceable-weapons.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_gun
In the United States, a ghost gun is a firearm made by an individual, without serial numbers or other identifying markings. The term is used by gun control advocates, gun rights advocates, law enforcement, and some in the firearm industry. By making the gun themselves, owners may legally bypass background checks and registration regulations. Under U.S. federal law, the creation and possession of ghost guns by individuals for personal use is allowed. In contrast, firearms for sale or distribution must bear manufacturer's markings and unique serial numbers, and a federal license is required to manufacture them.Some states have passed laws restricting ghost guns.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000006827740/ghost-guns-untraceable-weapons.html
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For those who don't believe in ghosts (Original Post)
discntnt_irny_srcsm
Dec 2019
OP
I don't believe requiring serial numbers will impact illegal use very much, if at all
friendly_iconoclast
Dec 2019
#1
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)1. I don't believe requiring serial numbers will impact illegal use very much, if at all
Criminals will move to entirely homemade guns, as see:
https://www.google.com/search?q=homemade+submachine+guns&source=lmns&bih=713&biw=1536&client=firefox-b-1-d&hl=en-US&ved=2ahUKEwiRyImngLvmAhUDWt8KHZk4ARsQ_AUoAHoECAEQAA
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-23/queensland-police-find-sophisticated-gun-manufacting-workshop/8051244
Queensland Police have charged five people after finding homemade machine guns, a weapons factory and drug labs during raids on the Gold Coast.
Police and Australian Border Force officers searched four homes and two businesses last Friday.
At an industrial shed in Nerang, police found four machine guns, a commercial pill press, weapons manufacturing equipment, silencers, a 3D printer and drugs.
Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker said he believed it was the first time police had seen machine gun manufacturing in Queensland...
Police and Australian Border Force officers searched four homes and two businesses last Friday.
At an industrial shed in Nerang, police found four machine guns, a commercial pill press, weapons manufacturing equipment, silencers, a 3D printer and drugs.
Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker said he believed it was the first time police had seen machine gun manufacturing in Queensland...
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/homemade-submachine-guns-seized-near-edmonton-1.3558129
Homemade submachine guns seized near Edmonton
Jackie Dunham
CTVNews.ca Published Wednesday, August 23, 2017 12:15PM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, August 23, 2017 1:35PM EDT
Alberta law enforcement officials have seized four prohibited firearms, including two homemade MAC-11 submachine guns, and arrested two suspects in Edmonton following an eight-month investigation.
The guns were allegedly manufactured at a professional grade machinist shop, located just west of Edmonton, according to a press release by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) on Wednesday. The owner of the shop was not aware of the guns, the release said.
ALERT Edmontons Guns and Gangs unit, with the help of Edmonton police and RCMP, confiscated a Beretta handgun equipped with a suppressor, a modified Suomi submachine gun with two oversized magazines and two homemade MAC-11 submachine guns with suppressors and oversized magazines.
Investigators are still looking into how many MAC-11 submachine guns were produced. They believe some of the weapons have already made their way to the criminal market.
Jackie Dunham
CTVNews.ca Published Wednesday, August 23, 2017 12:15PM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, August 23, 2017 1:35PM EDT
Alberta law enforcement officials have seized four prohibited firearms, including two homemade MAC-11 submachine guns, and arrested two suspects in Edmonton following an eight-month investigation.
The guns were allegedly manufactured at a professional grade machinist shop, located just west of Edmonton, according to a press release by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) on Wednesday. The owner of the shop was not aware of the guns, the release said.
ALERT Edmontons Guns and Gangs unit, with the help of Edmonton police and RCMP, confiscated a Beretta handgun equipped with a suppressor, a modified Suomi submachine gun with two oversized magazines and two homemade MAC-11 submachine guns with suppressors and oversized magazines.
Investigators are still looking into how many MAC-11 submachine guns were produced. They believe some of the weapons have already made their way to the criminal market.
...while legal gun owners will buy serialized kits, to save money and/or just to make something themselves-
like the narrator found out, making stuff is fun.
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,603 posts)2. Things evolve
Pennsylvania state police told to treat 'ghost guns' parts as firearms
https://6abc.com/pa-state-police-told-to-treat-ghost-guns-parts-as-firearms/5759965/
Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued a legal opinion to the Pennsylvania State Police that the gun frames, also known as "80% receivers," qualify as firearms.
...
"No single factor is dispositive," Shapiro told Evanchick. The police "must weigh all the applicable factors together to determine whether a receiver 'may be readily converted' to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive."
Shapiro said the guns are increasingly being found in the hands of people who are barred from possessing firearms. He said the attorney general's office found felons purchasing the kits at recent gun shows in the Philadelphia suburbs, York and Harrisburg. More than 100 ghost guns have been seized from prohibited purchasers in Philadelphia this year, he said.
https://6abc.com/pa-state-police-told-to-treat-ghost-guns-parts-as-firearms/5759965/
Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued a legal opinion to the Pennsylvania State Police that the gun frames, also known as "80% receivers," qualify as firearms.
...
"No single factor is dispositive," Shapiro told Evanchick. The police "must weigh all the applicable factors together to determine whether a receiver 'may be readily converted' to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive."
Shapiro said the guns are increasingly being found in the hands of people who are barred from possessing firearms. He said the attorney general's office found felons purchasing the kits at recent gun shows in the Philadelphia suburbs, York and Harrisburg. More than 100 ghost guns have been seized from prohibited purchasers in Philadelphia this year, he said.
I does make more sense to me to consider the function of the component items rather than taking the step requiring the manufacturer to serialize anything which qualifies as an 80% unit.
The Mouth
(3,315 posts)3. There's a great documentary on Netflix on them
Here's a bit of it
Truly impressive, seeing these folks building pretty darn functional 1911s from scratch, in the mountains.