Dammit, They Must Be Multiplying

 

Ghost Guns

Joe "Your Rights Mean Nothing to Me" Biden was on TV today yammering about "Ghost Guns" again and how he's going to do get them off the streets.  I decided this was a good time to cover what these things actually are and why our president, who can't get three letters in the right order (ATF Joe, not AFT).  

These are firearms manufactured by individuals, but that doesn't have the same evil ring as "ghost gun".  What may surprise you is that building a firearm for your own personal use is perfectly legal.  Manufacturing a firearm for personal use, without a serial number or background check, is protected under 18 U.S.C. 922(o), (p) and (r); 26 U.S.C. 5822; 27 CFR 478.39, 479.62 and 479.105.  The only restrictions are that the device may not be classifiable under the NFA (i.e. machine guns, silencers, explosive devices) or sold to another party.  

Let me say that again - Manufacturing your own gun is currently protected under the law.  Ghost guns are legal.  Of course, the gun grabbers care not about the law.

Various methods exist for someone to legally produce their own firearm.  The most basic is to own a machine shop and build one from scratch.  Since no one learns how to be a machinist anymore, 3D printing can be used as well.  The third method is the one Joe is apoplectic about, which is to buy what's generally called an 80% kit.  

In reality, only the lower receiver of a gun meets the definition of a firearm, (contains firing mechanism, etc.) so these are 80% lowers.  Upper receivers aren't guns, by law, so they can be sold to anyone without a background check.   

An 80% lower lacks the ability to function as a firearm, so it isn't classified as one.  This means there is obviously additional work that's required for the item to become a firearm (and meet the legal definition of one), ranging anywhere from drilling a few holes in the right places to full on machining.  Most manufacturers of 80% lowers also offer tooling jigs to complete the job.  Worth noting is that these things have been around for a number of years and were blessed by the ATF before being offered for sale.  

It's still unclear what actions and/or what legal rights will be taken away for Joe to address this scourge of society.  I'm not sure he has the authority to override legislation passed by Congress; checks and balances and all that stuff.  He may have new newly nominated AFT bulldog implement the same nonsense that's in use for those of us who legally build silencers, which is everything that's intended to be a silencer, no matter its current form, is already a silencer.  Bought a tube that you intend to make into a silencer?  Well, it already is one, solely based on your intent; felony conviction.  That hunk of aluminum you were planning to machine into a firearm?  Well, based on your intent, it's already a firearm.  What, you say you're legally allowed to do that?  Hah!  That was last week; here's your felony conviction.  

Also, don't expect the ATF to be consistent over time or even transparent with their definitions.  Again, going back to the silencer situation, the thugs apparently had established criteria in 2017 for what they considered to be a silencer and what they didn't.  That document has only recently been seen by the public, meaning you had no idea if you were committing a felony in the AFT's eyes.  Even better, they recently began using different criteria, which aren't documented for the public, just like last time.  

0% Lower Receiver

If you're all for making 80% lowers illegal, then please define what isn't a firearm that could be sold legally.  I'll wait.  I'll admit to being freaked out when I learned of their existence, but where does one draw the line?

Why is there such fear over guns built by individuals?  I'll get to the fear in a moment, so let's start with the allegedly rational part.  The primary justification seems to be that these homemade guns are showing up more frequently at crime scenes.  You won't hear any claims of the total number of crime scenes increasing, because they haven't.  Gun violence has been trending downward for over a decade.  Yes, there was a blip last year, but it was still less than a decade ago!  Sure, 80% lowers make it easier for criminals to get their hands on guns, but they've historically had an ample supply from other means, such as theft, straw purchases, etc.  Getting rid of 80% lowers will not decrease gun violence.  Period.

None of this matters one bit to the gun grabbers.  They hate guns and will do whatever it takes to prevent you from having one, including stoking the public's fear with ignorance and lies.  I watched a government official on the news today, state these really fucking scary ghost guns can go right through TSA checkpoints.  That's pretty fucking impressive!!!  Metal objects that somehow defy physics in a way that prevents them from setting off magnetometers or body scans.  Fuck, I get flagged for my wristwatch, which is mice nuts compared to a gun.  

In conclusion, Joe and gun grabbers live in a fantasy world, where they don't give a flying fuck about your rights or legal protection.  They'll fuck around on this and ten minutes later, some enterprising individual will uncover a loophole.  It's all for nothing anyway, because as usual, they're demonizing the wrong things.

PS - one would have to be a complete moron to think I'm okay with the amount of violence in this country.  Also, Joe really should keep in mind he won the election because he wasn't Cheeto Face, so he should stop fucking things up.  His track record when it comes to getting rid of guns he hates hasn't exactly been stellar.  After all, he's responsible for the popularity of the AR-15