Despite some extremist groups’ misguided legal efforts, it remains extraordinarily difficult to legally purchase firearms in New York City. They can still be had on the black market coming in from the persistent Iron Pipeline, but Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have begun cracking down on that smuggling pathway, and buying an illegal gun can be both expensive and dangerous.
So what’s an enterprising domestic abuser, drug dealer, or would-be shooter to do? The easy option is to purchase what’s called a ghost gun, essentially a disassembled weapon that does not technically count as a firearm, at least not until it is put together in as little as a half hour.
Not only is this as simple as buying a TV or a toaster online, it is perfectly legal, sidestepping gun laws and allowing malefactors to wield instruments that carry no serial numbers and are virtually untraceable no matter what a background check would have turned up for them. Once a trigger is pulled, they fire just like any other, no matter where they came from.
This long-standing loophole has made a mockery of our efforts to control the spread of these lethal tools, culminating in atrocities like Friday’s murder of 16-year-old Angellyh Yambo in the Bronx. The share of ghost guns used in crimes remains low but is rising, driven by the smuggling crackdowns and the relative ease of obtaining them.
With President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new federal rule clarifying that serial numbers must be included on components known as frames and receivers regardless of whether they’re affixed to the rest of a gun, as well as establishing the kits as firearms themselves for enforcement purposes, we can work to stem this trickle before it becomes an avalanche.
Along with promises to increase federal enforcement and the announcement of a new nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the president is signaling that these workarounds won’t be tolerated. It’s too late to save Angellyh, but we can keep other families from feeling that immense pain.
