Hawaii Rep Introduces Ghost Act to Track Gun Parts
Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii introduced the Ghost Act to track online shipments of gun parts, targeting the ghost gun issue. The bill seeks to enable law enforcement to better identify, intercept, and trace firearm components, especially those ordered without serial numbers or traceable manufacturing origins.
Purpose of the Ghost Act to Address Untraceable Gun Components
The Gun Hardware Oversight and Shipment Tracking Act (“Ghost Act”) aims to close loopholes exploited by ghost gun manufacturers. These weapons, assembled from kits or components purchased online, often evade background checks and registration processes. The proposed bill would require shipping companies and retailers to disclose firearm part transactions for regulatory tracking.
EDITOR OPINION: While there is some importance to understanding how to regulate hobbyist production of firearms – this is still a poor directive – given it doesn’t resolve any issues that should escalate it to the level of gun control. Tell me how this minimizes gun violence in any meaningful way? Explain how to resolve the other consumer and individual needs that this threatens to diminish? Are there people killing other people in South Side Chicago every Memorial Day weekend with 3D printed firearms? Maybe, but this is a smoke and mirrors way to enact legislation that fundamentally weakens the Second Amendment, by garnering support from uninformed voters, in abstract communities outside of where the real violence from printed and home made guns might exist at some basic threshold level.
Federal Outlook and Impact on Gun Control Efforts
Ghost guns have become a flashpoint in national gun control debates, with rising concern from law enforcement and public safety advocates. While some critics argue the bill burdens lawful hobbyists and gunsmiths, supporters view it as a necessary evolution in firearm regulation. Passage could set a precedent for how firearm components are handled online.
H/T: Hawaii News Now