It’s time for “ghost guns” to disappear. We have long supported reasonable regulation and restrictions on the use of firearms. We agree with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who said “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.” The majority of Americans support tougher firearms laws. In 2021, 52% of Americans surveyed by Gallup said they wanted stricter laws on the sales of guns; by contrast, 11% wanted those laws loosened.
In a city where violent crime and murder remain outrageously high, firearm restrictions are a necessity. Yet a minority of Americans fiercely opposed almost all gun restrictions. For them, we suggest a common ground: The nation should accelerate efforts to ban the production and sale of ghost gun kits and parts, which are used to build untraceable weapons that have no serial numbers or other identifying markers.
“You do not need a background check to purchase a ghost gun kit or parts, which allows prohibited and dangerous individuals to evade federal and state gun regulations,” says Brady: United Against Gun Violence, a group that supports gun restrictions. “The availability of ghost gun parts and kits is creating a gaping, and dangerous, loophole that undermines currently enacted gun-related regulations,” it says. A ghost gun was allegedly used by a student in the Olathe East High School shooting last week. A ghost gun was allegedly used in a recent murder-suicide in Lenexa. Ghost guns may be responsible for the rise in violent crime in several U.S. cities. President Joe Biden announced plans for tougher ghost gun restrictions nearly a year ago. Last February, he announced the National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative, designed to help local prosecutors file ghost gun cases. Yet progress has been slow. Steve Howe, the Johnson County district attorney, said more must be done to get ghost guns out of the wrong hands.
“I don’t think this is a Republican-Democrat issue. It’s not a pro-Second Amendment, anti-Second Amendment issue,” he said. “It’s something we can all agree on for public safety reasons.” Howe is a Republican, and hardly a left-wing anti-gun zealot. He thinks Congress should step in and shut down the ghost gun industry. We agree. While the Biden White House has taken some steps to eliminate ghost guns, federal legislation would be more effective. Ten states have ghost gun laws, including requirements that kits carry serial numbers. Missouri and Kansas have no laws restricting these untraceable kits, according to the Giffords Law Center. Both states should consider a ghost gun statute. Cities are adopting similar legislation, and cities in our region should consider their own laws. Missouri law appears to prevent Kansas City from pursuing a ghost gun ban — another example of the General Assembly’s ignorance about urban problems. This issue won’t go away on its own. Using 3D printers to produce gun parts is within the reach of ordinary citizens, a prospect that should worry all of us. Ghost guns could soon be everywhere.
It is fully constitutional to require all guns to be traceable, and for purchasers to pass reasonable background checks. Without those safeguards in place, more tragedies like the ones in Johnson County are likely.
