PITTSBURGH — A Supreme Court ruling Tuesday could help law enforcement crack down on so-called ghost guns, weapons Beth Pittinger, the Executive Director of Pittsburgh’s Citizen Police Review Board, says are nearly impossible to track.
“They’re insidious. They’re marketed to people who just want to avoid the law,” Pittinger explained. “They’re unregulated, they don’t carry serial numbers, there’s no background checks, they can be obtained through the mail — the kits to put them together.”
The Supreme Court reinstated regulations put into place last year by the ATF classifying ghost gun kits as firearms while legal challenges play out in lower courts.
That means manufacturers and sellers are required to get licenses, mark products with serial numbers, conduct background checks and maintain records.
“Today’s ruling will require there be some accountability for people putting these kits together, that they can’t be sold without a background check, that there be some identifiable information on the parts,” said Pittinger.
The ruling comes as Pittsburgh Police Spokesperson Cara Cruz says data from the Bureau’s Firearms Tracking Unit shows “the number of ghost guns that are being recovered each year has been steadily on the rise since 2020.”
Pittinger has seen the same trend.
“In the last 10 years, or so, they have multiplied exponentially in terms of availability and actual use in violent crime,” she said.
Pittinger hopes the new regulations will help police get more ghost guns off the streets.
“They’re very dangerous and it’s not just for law enforcement in terms of them running into people on the street with these weapons, but for just tracking back and holding people accountable for violent crimes using these weapons,” Pittinger said.
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