The Truth About Ghost Guns, 3D Printed Guns, and 80% Lowers

Citizens and Politicians concerned about gun violence in America are always looking for new things that can be done. In recent months it seems that a lot of attention has been given to “Ghost Guns” and the implications of unregistered, unserialized, and potentially 3D printed guns on our streets.

As I watch the news reports, read the advertising from companies who sell the products, and generally speaking observe the hysteria I'm inclined to try to set the record straight. What follows are the facts pertaining to the question of Ghost Guns and some analysis of the effect that they can have on gun violence in America.

ATF Serialization of Guns & The Law

To understand Ghost Guns we first need to understand the laws that regulate the construction and commerce of firearms. Federal Gun Laws such as the National Firearm Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Firearm Owner Protection Act of 1986 primarily address the transfer and sale of weapons and not the ownership or manufacture of weapons.

ATF regulations are aimed at what activities define someone as a gun “dealer” and then the rules that regulate what gun “dealers” can and cannot do. Private citizens who want to make or own a gun for themselves (with no intention of transferring it or selling it) are able to do so. There are no laws or regulation that keep Americans from making their own guns because, arguably, that would be against the US Constitution.

This means that anyone can buy raw materials and make a gun. Legally. With the right know-how and very easy to find materials and tools you can make yourself guns. This is the law and ALWAYS has been the law.

The only guns that are required to have serial numbers are those manufactured with the intention of being sold commercially.

What Are Ghost Guns?

The term “Ghost Gun” has essentially come to refer to any firearm that doesn't have a serial number.  Politicians show pictures of big scary rifles and 3D printed guns and tell their audience that these are “not registered” and “untraceable” and should not exist. We'll talk more about those arguments, concerns, and counter-arguments shortly.

As you might imagine, building a gun completely from scratch from raw materials can be time-consuming and difficult. There are 2 common things being done that can shortcut the process and both of these are often mentioned as part of the political rhetoric.

80% Lowers

An 80% lower or receiver is what you get when someone manufactures a firearm but stops short of finishing it. In essence, the manufacturer stops when they are 80% or less complete making the gun (or at least the part of the gun that is serialized) and sell it with the intention that the buyer will complete its construction. While the ATF doesn't define a firearm as something 81% completed or not, in many cases unfinished receivers being sold as 80% complete do not meet the definition of a firearm per the ATF. From the ATF's website:

Receiver blanks that do not meet the definition of a “firearm” are not subject to regulation under the GCA. The ATF has long held that items such as receiver blanks, “castings” or “machined bodies” in which the fire-control cavity area is completely solid and un-machined have not reached the “stage of manufacture” which would result in the classification of a firearm per the GCA

For the end buyer, it makes the process of building your own gun easier and faster than starting completely from scratch.

3D Printed Guns

3D printing technology has become more accessible by more people and there are now websites where one can download the plans / file to be able to 3D print the parts of a gun. To be clear, however, these 3D printed guns are not excatly like traditional firearms. Currently, the technology is relatively limited.

Accuracy is very low relatively. Further, in order to work the 3D printed firearm needs a nail to act as the firing pin. In addition, the nail (should) make the gun detectable by standard metal detectors and thus legal. The US Undetectable Firearms Act prohibits weapons that don't set off a metal detector.

What Are The Concerns From The People and Politicians?

All These Ghost Guns Are Unregistered Right?

Yes, but so are all other guns in this country. I know that most of us have seen enough cop TV shows to be under the impression that the government has some sort of database of all the guns and their owners but that isn't a thing.

If I go down to a major retailer like Dicks Sporting Goods, Walmart, or Bass Pro Shops and buy a gun, that gun is no more registered than one that I build myself that has no serial number. I realize this may be hard for some to believe but the Federal Firearm Owner Protection Act of 1986, in fact, prohibits any database of guns and gun owners from existing.

Wait, when people buy guns from stores they have to provide their personal information and submit to a background check don't they? Yes, they do, but the information provided to the government in conducting that background check doesn't include the make, model, or the serial number of that firearm. (Click here for more information about the lack of gun registration)

So while you can most accurately state that Ghost Guns are not registered, to do so inaccurately implies that non-ghost guns are registered which is simply NOT TRUE. With very few exceptions all guns are NOT registered.

All These Ghost Guns Are Untraceable Right?

Correct, but as stated above since no guns are registered, no guns are really traceable. Now to be clear the ATF does maintain a few databases of guns that include guns that have been reported stolen and those used or suspected of being used for criminal purposes but not yet recovered by law enforcement. If a firearm is recovered from a crime scene and assuming it has a serial number that is legible (criminals often remove them) then they can search the ATF's system to see if it is in that database.

As of 2010, these databases from the ATF represented less than 1/2 million firearms. Since current estimates place the number of firearms in the US over 350 million you can quickly do the math and recognize that over 99.9% of firearms are not traceable even if they do have a serial number.

So once again you can accurately state that Ghost Guns are untraceable, but doing so you imply that non-ghost guns are traceable which is NOT TRUE. With very few exceptions all guns are UNTRACEABLE.

So Why The Drama?

I ask myself that same question all the time. Ultimately it comes down to understanding the full picture, bigger plan of those who would like to restrict the Second Amendment of our country. By themselves, policies that prohibit ghost guns require universal background checks, allow firearm registration, and don't actually have any real effect on anything. Only by passing ALL Three of those proposals do we actually get to the meat of the matter.

IF firearm registration was legal and put into effect, and then IF all transfers (purchases) of firearms required a background check that was entered into the registration system, and then IF guns without serial numbers were illegal; THEN that small and select group of people we call “anti-gunners” would get to the place they want to get to. A place where it becomes possible to enact any gun control law you want and be able to enforce it with the direct confiscation of firearms from their owners.

It could be that I'm wrong and these politicians and people raging a war against Ghost Guns don't really want to restrict our Second Amendment … but if that is the case I'm left to assume they are ignorant of the truth.

So if you are reading this and want to maintain your Second Amendment rights then hopefully this gives you some clarity as to why these proposals that attack unserialized firearms could be dangerous.

If you are reading this and you support proposals that would make unserialized firearms illegal than at very least you now understand that it wouldn't actually change anything about anything unless you can also enact firearm registration and universal background checks nationwide.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.