Ghost Guns

Last week, President Biden announced several new executive actions on firearms, including: calling for an updated report on firearms trafficking; nominating a new director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and ordering the Department of Justice to draft new regulations that will treat handguns equipped with pistol braces as short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act, along with publishing a model "red flag" law for states to use as a guide. Jeff Welty and Shea Denning have previously written about red flag laws here and here. One order in particular seems to be getting a lot of attention: instructing the DOJ to issue a proposed rule within 30 days to address "ghost guns." I've gotten a few questions recently from law enforcement officers and prosecutors about ghost guns and the applicable law, so this post provides a summary of three topics: (i) what are ghost guns; (ii) why are they coming up as an issue now; and (iii) what do our existing state and federal laws say about them? But First -- a Brief Detour Through Ancient Greece Let’s start with a modern version of the old Ship of Theseus logic puzzle: imagine a person buys an AR-15 rifle off the shelf at a gun store, and over time he customizes it with various replacement parts and upgrades. Eventually he has installed a new barrel, stock, trigger, magazine, firing pin, grip, sights, and other components. Is it still the same gun? Take your time. Philosophers have been working [...]