With only a few days left before new federal regulations formally outlaw so-called ghost guns on August 24, numerous businesses are rushing to sell the components necessary to construct the completely untraceable weapons—and gun aficionados continue to assemble them.
President Joe Biden unveiled new restrictions in April that would treat ghost weapons, which may be created using internet or 3D-printed parts, the same as other firearms offered for sale in the country.
Ghost guns lack serial numbers, but regular weapons are required to have them so that law enforcement can track them down if they are used in a crime. Additionally, there are no limitations on who may purchase ghost gun components online, allowing criminals to get around measures meant to prohibit them from buying a conventional handgun from a registered dealer.
Countdowns to the effective date of the regulation have been placed on several websites that sell ghost gun components online, along with information for enthusiasts who wish to keep making guns at home.
Websites like 80-lower.com, which exhorts readers to “take your freedom while you can,” are among them. The website also provides links to product listings for AR-15 receivers. 80percentarms.com, a related website, guarantees that it will keep delivering ghost gun components up to the day the rule takes effect. The 80-lower.com and 80percentarms.com representatives did not reply to a request for comment from CBS News.
In recent years, there have been more ghost weapons in the United States. Although there is no information on how many ghost gun parts are sold, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Weapons and Explosives (ATF), which oversees firearms, reports a sharp increase in the amount of ghost gun components found at crime scenes in recent years.
The ATF noted increases in Google trends data in recent years that show rising interest in ghost gun components in its most recent report on the U.S. gun industry.
According to the statistics, over the past ten years, key searches for particular ghost gun parts have increased by more than 600%.
