Tong Joins Attorney Generals Defending Federal Ghost Gun Regulations

Press release from the AG's Office:

July 14, 2022

Attorney General William Tong joined 20 attorneys general in an amicus brief defending federal ghost gun regulations against a challenge from a distributor of ghost gun components.

Ghost guns are unserialized weapons that are often made at home from weapon parts kits or partially complete frames and receivers and can be purchased without background checks. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) recently adopted a rule to ensure that buyers pass background checks before purchasing such kits and that law enforcement officers can trace any self-made guns that are later used in a crime.

Unserialized ghost guns are illegal in Connecticut. State law prohibits anyone from manufacturing a firearm without subsequently obtaining and engraving or permanently affixing a unique serial number provided by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Absent federal enforcement, these dangerous weapons have continued to proliferate, including in states that have tried to regulate ghost guns. The ATF rule helps curb this problem by serving as a vital backstop to existing state efforts to stem the flow of ghost guns.

“Ghost guns exist to evade background checks and law enforcement. The ATF rule—as well as Connecticut’s own ghost gun ban—are necessary to protect public safety against the undetected proliferation of these untraceable crime guns. The ATF rule is commonsense, lawful, and must be upheld,” said Attorney General Tong.

The ATF’s Final Rule regulates ghost guns by clarifying critical definitions in the Gun Control Act. Specifically, the Final Rule makes it clear that weapon parts kits and partially complete frames or receivers—the key building blocks for ghost guns—are “firearms” under the Act if they can be readily converted to function as such. In making this sensible clarification, the Final Rule helps ensure that these kits and partially complete frames or receivers are subject to the same serialization and background check requirements as conventionally manufactured guns. This helps close a dangerous loophole in firearms regulation that enabled people to evade existing gun laws and get their hands on these dangerous weapons.

A copy of the brief is available here.

Today’s brief was led by AG Racine and the Attorneys General of New Jersey and Pennsylvania and joined by the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

This press release was produced by the AG's Office. The views expressed here are the author's own.