Regulate Ghost Guns, Nessel Says

Detroit MI

23 August, 2021

12:53 PM

Description

LANSING— Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday called for the U.S. Justice Department to regulate ghost guns. Nessel is one of 22 attorneys general who submitted a comment encouraging the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to finalize regulations that would make clear ghost guns are firearms under federal law. "This rule takes a significant step toward remedying a major loophole that remains in the federal regulation of firearms," Nessel said in news release. "It remains unconscionable that our current regulations do not require manufacturers of ghost guns to conduct background checks on individuals who make a purchase, nor do they prevent individuals deemed not permitted to obtain guns from doing so. Our federal partners must act to correct this glaring and dangerous contribution to gun violence." According to a news release from Nessel's office, ghost guns are unregulated and can be purchased by anyone without a background check because they are manually constructed from weapon kits and incomplete weapons parts. Therefore, people can easily convert them into an unserialized functioning gun. In addition to regulating ghost guns, the attorneys general also called on the ATF to revise its regulations so that they encompass modern gun designs. "Otherwise, federal regulations cannot accomplish what Congress intended when it passed the Gun Control Act," the news release said.