Law enforcement representatives are worried about the increased number of military-style, semiautomatic rifle kits that can be assembled at home. The "ghost guns", as they are called, have become more popular during the past years, while concerning the firearms rights activists.
The reason behind their concern lies in the fact that the ghost gun kits don't require any serial number or marking, which makes them impossible to be traced. Florida is one of the areas where this problem is rising, due to the increasing number of companies producing the kits.
Additionally, the guns can be also purchased through online means, and there are thousands of websites selling them without any background check of the customers who fill in the requests.
Legal Loopholes Encourage Use Of 'Ghost Guns'
The loophole causing this entire issue lies in the fact that the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives defines firearms in a manner that doesn't require any mandatory manufacturer-stamped serial number, should the gun kits be bought for personal use purposes.
According to Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi's statement during an interview, these companies are completely legal, despite the many concerns they are raising. There are more than six such companies operating only in Volusia County, Florida, which makes a possible regulation in this respect even more complicated.
Elite Custom Railing, a company operating in Holly Hill, Florida, creates components for a AR-15 kit; the increasing interest in this industry is partially due to the fact that guns whose trigger mechanisms are designed by this manufacturer have been correlated to a number of mass shootings.
Raising Concerns For Public Safety
According to a co-owner of a similar company in Florida, the reason why these gun kits are not as dangerous as they seem is that they have to be assembled manually by its users, which makes it very complicated for average criminals to employ them in their activities.
The company co-owner also mentioned that, should a criminal want to use such a gun as part of an illegal act, it's times easier to steal one than create one at home, which opens a new series of public safety concerns.
While many of these businesses' representatives are not worried about the possibilities these ghost gun kits open to the criminals, it was also reported that a great number of tutorial are accessible online.
Consequently, the entire information on how to home-build these rifles once their components are purchased is widely available online, which makes virtually anyone capable to watch the YouTube tutorials and read the how-to.
