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BWJP Supports the Biden Administration’s Newly Released Firearm Regulations on “Ghost Guns”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BWJP Supports the Biden Administration’s Newly Released Firearm Regulations on “Ghost Guns” April 12, 2022 ST. PAUL, M.N. – BWJP applauds President Biden’s newly released regulations to prevent the proliferation of untraceable firearms known as ghost guns. Ghost guns are assembled weapons from firearm kits purchased online or in stores. These privately made weapons are unregulated and untraceable in part due to the absence of a serial number, making it more difficult to trace the original owner. The new regulations will ensure all parts bought in gun kits will qualify as firearms under federal law, and commercial manufacturers of the kits will have to become licensed, run background checks on potential buyers before a sale, and must add serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receiver.  “Today is one of progress and promise,” says Alicia Nichols, Deputy Director of BWJP’s National Resource Center for Domestic Violence and Firearms (“NRCDVF”). “Preventing access to ghost guns and increasing accountability for those who manufacture and sell them is a step in the right direction.” According to the Administration, in 2021, about 20,000 ghost guns were recovered in criminal investigations, a tenfold increase from 2016. Every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. BWJP’s resource center – The National Center on Domestic Violence and Firearms – is the leading national center addressing the intersection of gun violence and gender-based violence and works to prevent domestic violence-related homicides and assaults involving firearms through policy improvement, working with communities to identify root causes. Find the Biden’s Administration’s fact sheet here. For questions, comments, or media contact, please contact communications@bwjp.org About BWJP: BWJP is a collection of national policy and practice centers at the intersection of GBV and legal systems. BWJP provides educational support and resources including training, technical assistance, and consulting to advocates, nonprofit service providers, community leaders, and systems professionals.