U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Bob Menendez, Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal Call for Biden Administration to Close Ghost Gun Loophole

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to urge President Joe Biden to take executive action to close the “ghost gun” loophole in the Gun Control Act, which allows individuals—including domestic abusers, prohibited buyers, gun traffickers, and domestic terrorists—to buy untraceable, unserialized firearms without a federal background check. Cities across America have seen a spike in ghost-gun-related crimes. 

Ghost gun kits can be easily purchased online and assembled at home, making it more difficult to regulate these dangerous weapons. Individuals can buy an AR-15 kit online for as little as $345 and Glock-type pistol kits for $400. 

“Despite the ease with which these kits and parts can be purchased and assembled into a fully functioning firearm, the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives] ATF does not regulate these ghost-gun building blocks as firearms,” the senators wrote. “This dangerous loophole undermines federal and state laws, hampers the ability of law enforcement to investigate and solve firearm crimes, and presents a real threat to the public.” 

While the use of ghost guns in crimes has spiked in cities across the country, “[e]ven more troubling is the rise in ghost-gun popularity among white supremacists,” the senators wrote. “In January 2020, authorities arrested three members of a white supremacist group who planned to travel to attend a gun-rights rally in Virginia and attempt to start a civil war. One member of the group made an AR-15 using parts and a jig widely available online.”