President Joe Biden today announced a final rule that bans certain homemade firearms kits (otherwise known as “ghost guns”) by redefining the term “firearm” under federal law. He also named a new nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
The new rule, which was first proposed in May of last year, will require manufacturers and sellers of homemade firearms “kits” to obtain a federal firearms license and conduct background checks on all sales, among other regulations, according to the White House.
It will also require gun dealers to serialize all firearms they obtain, redefine the term “frame or receiver” to incorporate split-receiver firearms like the AR-15, and force gun dealers to retain all gun sale records and turn them over to the ATF when they go out of business.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is “monitoring the submission” of the final rule.
SEE ALSO: Lawmakers Smash ATF, Calls New Frame and Receiver Rule ‘Deeply Flawed’
“NSSF will review the Final Rule carefully to see if DOJ listened and took into consideration the industry’s comments that were submitted. As proposed, this rule radically alters the manufacturing and compliance processes for manufacturers of traditional firearms, not just the making of incomplete, unfinished parts Congress has not chosen to regulate,” the group said in a statement.
Here is the final rule:
ATF has posted the final rule. Clock is not turned on until appears in Federal Register https://t.co/Pfu6h2Jwl4 @NSSF @ATFHQ
— Larry Keane (@lkeane) April 11, 2022
In addition, the president named Steve Dettelbach as his nominee for the Director of the ATF. Dettelbach currently serves as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and the White House claims he has a “proven track record of working with federal, state, and local law enforcement to fight violent crime and combat domestic violent extremism and religious violence.”
The NSSF expressed “significant concerns” about Dettelbach’s background as well as some of his public statements.
Everytown for Gun Safety issued a statement supporting both of Biden’s moves.
“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for doubling down on its commitment to gun safety by taking action to rein in ghost guns and nominating an ATF Director who will end its culture of complicity with the gun industry. Steve Dettelbach will be the strong leader the ATF needs to lead a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency, and we urge the Senate to swiftly confirm him.”
SEE ALSO: Gun Control is Dead! Ghost Gunner 3 Makes 0% Receivers In Your Home — SHOT Show 2022
Dettelbach is a Democrat who has been endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety. During his failed run for Ohio Attorney General, he expressed support for an “assault weapon” ban and for a ban on private firearms transfers.
“Somebody who is running a legitimate firearms license dealer has to run a background check to sell a weapon. You shouldn’t be able to buy that exact same weapon still in the shrink wrap without having a background check it just doesn’t make sense and we’ve seen over and over that there’s problems with it,” Dettelbach said.
In 2019, Dettelbach blamed the mass murder in El Paso on the murderer’s “easy access to firearms.” He’s taken to Twitter on several occasions throughout the years to call for increased gun control in the wake of these and similar tragedies.