Biden Administration Pledges to Crack Down on Ghost Guns, Announces New ATF Nominee

President Joe Biden today announced his intention to further curtain the Second Amendment rights of the American people.

Joined this afternoon in the Rose Garden by Vice President Kamala Harris and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Biden announced steps that his administration will take to curb the “epidemic of gun violence,” including a limiting of so-called “ghost guns,” as well as announcing a new nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Biden's comments on so-called “ghost-guns” included a promise to federally prosecute anyone suspected of using one in a crime. This narrative – one where proliferating “ghost guns” are flooding the streets and somehow responsible for the current increase in gun violence in U.S. cities is absolute nonsense. Catch and release policies being practiced by leftist DA's on gun crime across the country are likely to have had a far more measurable impact…but that doesn't give them the ammo they want to further regulate and strangle our Second Amendment rights.

So, what are “ghost guns” anyway? Simply put, they are firearms that are manufactured at home by individuals, and the parts defined as a firearm are often not serialized. Many firms specialize in supplying components for “80% lower” kits, where the key component of a firearm – the receiver – is only 80% completed. The buyer must complete and assemble the firearm themself and once done, the firearm is not legal to transfer or sell, except under very specific conditions.

Anti-gunners have used the ongoing argument that “ghost guns” are responsible for a rise in crime, yet there are no credible statistics showing that this is the case. Recent citations of an increase in gun crime are circular references, where a news article cites another news article, and so on, with no substantiated data to back up the claim.

To bolster the gun-grabbers, Mia Tretta related her harrowing story of being victimized during a school shooting in 2019. Ms. Tretta is currently suing a manufacturer of parts used to build 1911 style pistols, alleging the seller was negligent in selling parts to the shooter's father.

As a former student gun activist myself – albeit on the opposite side of the issue – I applaud Mia for having the courage to be politically active and use her personal experience to push for a policy position that she believes in.

As unfortunate as her story is, further legislation from gun-grabbing leftists is not only unlikely to have prevented the shooting that Mia was a victim of – but increases the costs and regulations imposed on the American people who choose to practice a fundamental right.

Extra government overreach will only make it harder for law-abiding gun owners to have guns, but it won't make it any harder for criminals to commit crimes.

In a statement released earlier today, the White House also said they would take further action by building and expanding a database of firearms owners. It is a crime for the ATF to build such a registry, so they have been determined for years to find another approach – and the record retention rule is their path forward. Some call it a backdoor gun registry.

The new rule issued by the Biden administration “requires federally licensed firearms dealers to retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity. At that time, these dealers must transfer the records to the ATF, just as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity.”

The statement went on to note that “previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years, making it harder for law enforcement to trace firearms found at crime scenes. According to ATF's National Tracing Center, on average, more than 1,300 firearms a year are untraceable because the federally licensed firearms dealer destroyed the relevant records that were more than 20 years old.”

This may seem like not such a big deal, but it is – it places an undue burden on Federal Firearms dealers, and then creates a mechanism for the ATF to obtain the records, and store them instead.

After the massive failure of nominating David Chipman, Biden also formally announced his nomination of Steve Dettelbach to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Formerly an Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Dettelbach has already once been through a Senate confirmation process. As Biden noted during the press conference, Dettelbach was unanimously confirmed to his previous role.

What Biden doesn't mention is that Dettelbach lost his bid for AG of Ohio in 2018, and a key factor of the race was his position on gun bans, confiscation, and red-flag laws.

Biden also directly called out the National Rifle Association (NRA) directly, dismissing the group's criticism of Biden's new rule as “extreme.” Biden's response: “The idea that someone on a terrorist list could purchase one of these guns is extreme?”

Finally, Biden called on Congress to act and pass universal background checks.

Biden previously made gun control a key issue of his campaign. Luckily though for Second Amendment supporters, he hasn't actually delivered on many of his radical campaign promises. From promising to make Beto O'Rourke his “gun control czar,” to the nomination of David Chipman to be ATF director not making it to a floor vote in the Senate, Biden seems to be all talk and no real action on this issue. Hopefully, he doesn't start seeing success now.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.