Proposed state law would make ‘ghost guns’ illegal

Date: 6/2/2022

SPRINGFIELD – The number of “ghost guns” is growing not just across the nation, but in Massachusetts and a new bill is being written to address that issue.

A “ghost gun” is described by state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez’s office as “firearms that do not contain a serial number and are therefore untraceable. They are typically purchased as a kit to be assembled or printed on a 3D-printer.”

Gonzalez noted people have been buying the kits online.

Gonzalez is the House chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security and he and state Rep. Brian Ashe as well as Springfield Police Deputy Chief Steven Kent met with the press on May 23 to discuss this problem facing public safety.

His committee is crafting legislation to make the guns illegal
Kent noted that without a serial number, ghost guns are impossible for the police to trace when used in the commission of a crime and there is an increase of them in the city. He explained that in 2020 there were 270 guns confiscated by the Police Department with six of them being ghost guns. In 2021 there were 255 guns seized and 26 of them were ghost guns. As of May 1, there have been 109 guns taken off the streets and 10 of them are ghost guns.

Kent had two ghost guns on display, one of which had a magazine holding 27 bullets.

Kent said he supports the legislation even though he supports the Second Amendment and owns guns. He stressed this proposed law would not affect legal gun owners in Massachusetts.

Kendell Jacobson, representing the organization Every Town for Gun Safety, called ghost guns “one of the fastest growing threats to public safety.”

The fact that the guns are shipped unassembled and are largely made of materials that can elude metal detectors is a “direct end run” around current gun safety laws.

Gonzalez explained his committee will be working on the bill in the next two weeks and has heard from gun advocates as well as opponents to firearms. His plan is to have a bill that would appeal to both sides and to get it to the floor of the House and Senate by the end of the session.

When asked if Gov. Charlie Baker has indicated one way or another how he would react to such legislation, Gonzalez said he does not know at this time.

Gonzalez said the Massachusetts law would act in tandem to actions recently taken by President Joe Biden. On April 11, the White House issued a press release that said in part, “Today, the President and deputy attorney general will also announce that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued a final rule to rein in the proliferation of “ghost guns” – unserialized, privately-made firearms that law enforcement are increasingly recovering at crime scenes in cities across the country. Last year alone, there were approximately 20,000 suspected ghost guns reported to ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) as having been recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations – a ten-fold increase from 2016. Because ghost guns lack the serial numbers marked on other firearms, law enforcement has an exceedingly difficult time tracing a ghost gun found at a crime scene back to an individual purchaser.

“This final rule bans the business of manufacturing the most accessible ghost guns, such as unserialized ‘buy build shoot’ kits that individuals can buy online or at a store without a background check and can readily assemble into a working firearm in as little as 30 minutes with equipment they have at home. This rule clarifies that these kits qualify as ‘firearms’ under the Gun Control Act, and that commercial manufacturers of such kits must therefore become licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receiver, and commercial sellers of these kits must become federally licensed and run background checks prior to a sale – just like they have to do with other commercially-made firearms.

“The final rule will also help turn some ghost guns already in circulation into serialized firearms. Through this rule, the Justice Department is requiring federally licensed dealers and gunsmiths taking any unserialized firearm into inventory to serialize that weapon. For example, if an individual builds a firearm at home and then sells it to a pawn broker or another federally licensed dealer, that dealer must put a serial number on the weapon before selling it to a customer. This requirement will apply regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers.”

Mayor Domenic Sarno praised Gonzalez and the work of the committee and said, “This is common sense legislation.”

In a related development, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announced the arrest of Joshua Buffum of Springfield on May 24. According to Gulluni’s office he “has been arrested after an investigation by Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni’s SAFE Task Force discovered he was building AR-15s in his home on Hancock Street in Springfield.”

The DA’s office noted in its statement, “Over the past couple of weeks, law enforcement developed intelligence that Buffum was building AR-15’s at his residence and was in possession of three additional handguns. After executing the search warrant, officers discovered a makeshift workstation equipped with a 3-D printer and various tools and machinery used to build and manufacture firearms. An AR-15 rifle, 9MM handgun, .380 handgun, 12 extended magazines and various ammunition were recovered. There were also three additional AR-15’s located which were in the process of being built.

“None of the functioning firearms had serial numbers, and are untraceable to law enforcement.”