DENVER | Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Friday banning firearms that are assembled at home or 3D-printed without serial numbers, weapons that allowed owners to evade background checks and impede law enforcement’s ability to track a gun’s origins in an investigation.
“Ghost guns are untraceable, unserialized weapons that anyone can make or assemble in their own home – and they’re extremely dangerous,” said state Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, one of the bill’s prime sponsors. “We worked hard this session to make Colorado safer and prevent gun violence, and this new law is a big step towards reaching that goal.”
The new law is the latest in a slew of gun control measures signed by Polis this year. The state joins 11 others, including California, New York and Nevada, in regulating the so-called ghost guns, which have been linked to high-profile mass shootings across the U.S.
The use of ghost guns in crimes has risen 1,000% since 2017, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A gunman in Sacramento, California, who fatally shot his three adolescent daughters, another adult and himself at a church last year had been barred from owning firearms, but was able to obtain a ghost gun.
In Colorado, the person accused of killing five people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and another who wounded two administrators at a Denver high school had possessed ghost guns before killings, according to authorities.
The new law also prohibits everyone but licensed firearm manufacturers from creating firearm frames or receivers, which house internal components. Under a federal gun bill signed by President Joe Biden last year, manufacturers are already required to put serial numbers on those parts.
The Colorado law bans the transport and possession of frames and receivers that don’t have serial numbers. The law allows those who currently have ghost guns to get them serialized at a licensed dealership by 2024, though the dealer will be required to run a background check before giving the firearm back.
Lawsuits incoming .
Polis is such a moron. People who own these guns don’t care about the law! They’re not going to go get them serialized. How ridiculous. This does nothing to make us safer. And watch the NRA make a big deal of it anyway even though it means nothing. You “worked hard” on a p.r. stunt, Rhonda Fields. Polis caved to the NRA when he had the chance to make a real difference. THIS is fluff.
Fear mongers about ghost guns being assembled or made at home. Only photo shown is a Glock that was neither of those things. Gang bangers are not 3d printing guns at home, get real. JournalismingTM
😂 That is NOT a Glock and it isn’t about 3D printed guns. Other than that you’re right.
🥱 It won’t stop anything.