The Ghost Gunner 3 by Defense Distributed / Photo by Defense Distributed

Elitist Journalists get the most basic details wrong when it comes to “Ghost Guns”, go figure.

The Chicago Sun Times recently ran a piece from their editorial board about so-called “Ghost Guns” and the mistakes in this article are beyond the typical “fully semi-automatic” and “Magazine v. Clip” whoopsies that we normally see in the mainstream media. Some of the mistakes in this piece could have been avoided with a simple Google search, one might even argue that this is willful ignorance on part of the authors.

Here is a quick excerpt from the article so you can get an idea of what we are getting into. From the Chicago Sun Times: 

Ghost guns are firearms purchasers assemble themselves without serial numbers, making them easy to obtain and hard to trace. Some are “printed” on 3-D printers and include no metal, allowing owners to carry them through metal detectors undetected.

It’s just too easy, and too life-threatening.

What we see being perpetuated here is the common gun grabber tagline that unserialized firearms are hard to trace, the implication being that they are harder to track down than normal guns. This simply isn’t the case, regular firearms are difficult to track down because the government does not keep a registry of firearms and their respective owners. The only records the government has in regards to serial numbers is the last buyer of the firearm and they have this because of the background check process. The only thing the government can’t trace on an unserialized firearm is the last known buyer.

In regards to the claim that some of these unserialized firearms are able to slip through metal detectors undetected, really? This claim is totally non-sensical and shows a total lack of how firearms or anything mechanical works. Yes, we are at the point in technological development where lowers and frames can be printed in plastic which would not set off a metal detector, but there are still parts that need to be made out of metal in even 3-d printed firearms. If you want to disregard that fact then consider that ammunition could also potentially set off metal detectors.

These claims are enough to discredit this entire article but lets continue as if these are not glaring errors.

The article continues by advocating for making manufacturing, purchasing, importation, and ownership of “Ghost Guns” illegal.

Last week, state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, introduced a bill to make the transfer, purchase, manufacturing, importation or possession of ghost guns illegal. The bill was endorsed by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. Ten other states and the District of Columbia already have laws to stop the proliferation of ghost guns. Illinois should join them.

This is from an editorial board so advocating for a certain position is not all that irregular and is certainly in line with the way media works.

The article really hammers home the point that these firearms need to be banned and sites several gun control lobbying groups including the Giffords Law Center  and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The article parrots talking points and taglines from these organizations without any critique or criticism.

The article hits on two more notes that some might find to be a tad problematic.

Ghost guns also are becoming the weapons of choice for domestic terrorists, gun safety activists say. Criminals who turn to ghost guns can get around the entire system of federal and state gun laws,

On the federal level, President Joe Biden has announced an executive order to regulate ghost guns. Public comment ended in August, but the rule-making process is dragging along slowly, and even when the rule is finally in place, it can be undone by a future president.

The first claim, that unserialized firearms are the choice of domestic terrorists and criminals nationwide, is a total farce due to the fact that no gun control law or ATF regulation has ever stopped criminals from obtaining firearms in the past. Criminals are people who commit crimes, they disregard the law and are not going to give any thought to the laws regarding firearms when they intend to use those firearms to rob liquor stores and mug a passersby. Criminals are not going to throw in the towel just because some politician or journalist made things a little harder, they always find a way to circumnavigate the law.

The other note that this article hits on here is Joe Biden’s move against unserialized firearms via the federal bureaucracy. The article suggests that the bureaucracy is not moving fast enough in regards to this issue when many might argue, myself included, that these things need to be argued in the legislature. These are not simple regulations for business that carry small fines or emergency decisions that need to be made immediately, these are laws that make Americans criminals overnight and they need to go through the proper process.

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