Free Republic

Rep. Thomas Massie and Second Amendment advocates are pushing back against the Biden administration's upcoming rule on "ghost guns," characterizing the rule to rein in privately made firearms without serial numbers as unconstitutional. "The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to prevent you from making your own firearm. This a fact that has been recognized for 200+ years. Also, Article 1, Section 1 (literally the first operative sentence in the Constitution) says Congress makes law, not POTUS!" Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted Sunday.

An NBC News segment highlighting the “ghost gun” market in the U.S. has earned a response from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Activists have been claiming the network may have broken the very laws they were trying to expose as too lenient. The March 17 report covered so-called “ghost gun” kits that offer firearm parts which can be built into guns, which don’t have serial numbers. The controversial part of the segment came when NBC News reporter Vaughn Hillyard bought a “ghost gun” kit outside of his home state and then gave it to others to build...

Inevitably, last weekend’s horrendous fusillade of bullets on a downtown Sacramento street that left six people dead and at least a dozen wounded generated demands for new gun controls in state that already has the nation’s most restrictive firearms laws. However, if anything, what happened just two blocks from the state Capitol underscores the folly of believing that gun violence can be meaningfully reduced by trying to choke off the supply of firearms — any more than the prohibition of liquor or the war on drugs succeeded. The state’s gun laws have hassled law-abiding hunters and gun hobbyists and some...

Self-built “ghost guns” are a growing threat to Illinois communities. Before the Legislature ends its abbreviated session on April 8, it should ban them. Ghost guns are firearms purchasers assemble themselves without serial numbers, making them easy to obtain and hard to trace. Some are “printed” on 3-D printers and include no metal, allowing owners to carry them through metal detectors undetected. It’s just too easy, and too life-threatening.

Federal prosecutors have indicted an Oregon man for allegedly running the state's largest "ghost gun" manufacturing workshop, a case authorities say highlights how the homemade firearms can fuel crime. A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Tyler Ray Harnden on charges he allegedly provided fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills to people with substance abuse disorders in exchange for making illegal straw purchases of firearms. The charges stem from a raid on Harnden's Salem residence in February. There, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and local police found dozens of homemade firearm components, three drill presses and...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- In the South Bay, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said, "assault weapons, machine guns, and ghost guns" (all illegal weapons), were seized from what they're calling a "sophisticated ghost gun factory." Three people are now in custody, accused of running the operation out of a home in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood. Ask residents in the neighborhood, and many feel there's an undeniable sense of safety across this small pocket of San Jose. However, located a little more than a mile outside of Downtown Willow Glen's core is what authorities are calling a...

Los Angeles County's top prosecutor called Tuesday on three credit card companies to stop online payments for the purchase of kits to make untraceable "ghost guns." "American Express, Mastercard and Visa have the ability to go beyond what any law enforcement agency, legislature or city council can accomplish," District Attorney George Gascón said in a written statement. "We are asking these companies to join us in stemming the flow of ghost guns into our communities by preventing a ghost gun kit from being sold with a few mere clicks on a smartphone or computer." So-called ghost guns are typically assembled...

So-called "ghost guns" are untraceable firearms that can be bought online and assembled at home, without background checks (and with the aid of YouTube videos). A homemade firearm that federal agents say was recovered on Feb. 6, 2020, from a home in Edmonds, Washington. © U.S. Attorney's Office via AP A homemade firearm that federal agents say was recovered on Feb. 6, 2020, from a home in Edmonds, Washington. Earlier this week, police said one such ghost gun was used in a shooting at a high school in Arizona. The guns' rise in popularity is a "fast-growing scourge" facing the...

The City Council Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance to prohibit the possession, purchase, sale, receipt and transportation of "ghost guns" in Los Angeles. The ordinance prohibits the possession, purchase, sale, receipt or transport of a non-serialized unfinished firearm frame or receiver or non- serialized firearm. Such weapons -- known as "ghost guns" because they are virtually untraceable -- can be assembled by unlicensed buyers from legally purchased kits.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two lower court judges and upheld California’s ban on high-capacity magazines Tuesday in a split decision that may be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. “The statute outlaws no weapon, but only limits the size of the magazine that may be used with firearms,” the judges ruled in the 7-4 decision. The majority reasoned that “the record demonstrates that the limitation interferes only minimally with the core right of self-defense, as there is no evidence that anyone ever has been unable to defend his or her home and...

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two lower court judges and upheld California’s ban on high-capacity magazines Tuesday in a split decision that may be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. “The statute outlaws no weapon, but only limits the size of the magazine that may be used with firearms,” the judges ruled in the 7-4 decision. The majority reasoned that “the record demonstrates that the limitation interferes only minimally with the core right of self-defense, as there is no evidence that anyone ever has been unable to defend his or her home and family due to the...

A few years ago, “ghost gun” homemade shotguns were appearing at gun “buyback” turn-in events, as makers of the simple shotguns cashed in on the money to be had. Gun “buyback” is an Orwellian term. You cannot “buyback” a gun you never owned before. In a recent turn-in event on October 23, from 10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, it appears two of the shotguns were turned in for $50 each. The guns show a bit of craftsmanship. The hose clamps are nicely clipped instead of having excessive over-run, the stock is inletted for the barrel and clamping...

"It’s come to our attention that German magazine Der Spiegel reports the inventor of the rapid-fire 3D-printed gun that could be entirely printed at home has passed away. JStark, a 28-year-old German citizen, was one of the biggest innovators of this decade when printing weapons and gun parts at home. He helped create Deterrence Dispensed – an online group that promotes and distributes open-source 3D printed firearms, gun parts, and cartridges. The group strongly supports freedom of speech applied to computer code and blueprints. Der Spiegel says JStark passed away on Friday of an apparent heart attack. Foul play was...

It’s not expensive or difficult to produce large numbers of untraceable firearms in the United States. Whether for private use, sale on the criminal market or arming violent extremists, it’s actually startlingly cheap and easy to mass-produce firearms that police can’t track — what are often called “ghost guns.” For just over $2,000 I can buy a machine — not much bigger than a desktop laser printer — that will do the trick. If I’m feeling handy, I can get it done with just simple power tools. As I discuss in a recent journal article about ghost guns, it’s perfectly...

We have a brand-new public health crisis -- gun violence. Now that the last pandemic is dying out, President Asterisk has decreed that people shooting each other is our next pandemic. It turns out murder is not a morality problem, it’s a health problem. It’s no wonder we haven’t dealt with this crisis effectively -- we didn’t really understand it. It seems to me that our political rulers just need to have another dance with their new-found emergency powers. Perhaps Dr. Two-Mask Fauci can lead us out of this crisis. He can use science to address gun violence with the...

The Biden White House has released a preview of President Joe Biden's executive actions on gun control, which he plans to sign Thursday afternoon. The administration is also arguing additional gun control is needed to fight a "public health" crisis and pushing hard for "red flag laws," which often violate civil liberties. "Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing six initial actions to address the gun violence public health epidemic," the White House released late Wednesday. "This Administration will not wait for Congress to act to take its own steps." Here are the six actions, from the White House "fact sheet."...

Politico indicates that President Joe Biden will be putting forth executive action on gun control tomorrow. Politico notes that the executive action is expected to center on “ghost guns,” making it mandatory for individuals buying gun kits to undergo a background check as purchasers of manufactured firearms are required to do.

Ever since the landmark ruling on 3D-printed firearms, outrage and moral panic have surrounded so-called “ghost guns.” Whether you’re a proponent of Second Amendment freedoms or just doing opponent research, it’s important to have the facts about what a ghost gun is and what it is not. It’s also important to know other related terms in the world of firearms – like how is a ghost gun different from a 3D-printed gun? And what is an 80-percent lower? This guide will answer all of your ghost gun questions, and will separate fact from fiction surrounding this polarizing topic.

Several media outlets in California have teamed up with the anti-Second Amendment organization, The Trace, to investigate and write about homemade guns in California. They claim that BATFE sources say 30 percent of guns confiscated in California are homemade. Given there are over 400 million guns in private hands in the United States, and the border between California and other states is porous, and only lightly regulated; it seems an extraordinary number. From nbcbayarea.com: An Investigation by NBC Bay Area in partnership with NBC San Diego, NBC Los Angeles, and the non-profit journalists at The Trace found that law...

(I posted this topic yesterday and we had started a good discussion, though it was removed because the headline was incorrect. It incorrectly read the senate passed a bill banning 3D-printed guns, but it did not yet. I'd like to pick this discussion up again:) With the election cycle heating up, some Democratic hopefuls are beginning to propose more gun control legislation. U.S. Senator Time Kaine (D-VA) recently called on the Senate and Virginia's own Assembly to outlaw the distribution of instructions for 3D-printing firearms. This call is likely in direct response to the Trump administration's refusal to block such...