A Pennsylvania lawmaker is aiming to address the growing issue of ghost guns in 2025. Ghost guns are firearms made privately without serial numbers, making them hard for law enforcement to trace. These guns have become more popular among criminals in recent years.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ATF says they’ve found more and more ghost guns at crime scenes across the U.S. over the past decade. Some people use 3D printers to make parts of the gun and then order other parts online, which aren’t regulated, to build the weapon themselves.
In Philadelphia, police recovered around 6,000 crime guns in 2022 and 2023, with about 9% of them being ghost guns. So far in 2024, around 5,200 guns have been recovered, including about 400 ghost guns, making up about 7.5%.
While most people who assemble their own guns legally are allowed to do so, criminals prefer ghost guns because they can’t be traced back to them.
To address this, 15 states, including New Jersey and Delaware, have passed laws to regulate ghost guns. However, Pennsylvania doesn’t have any laws in place yet. State Rep. Melissa Shusterman, a Democrat from Chester County, wants to change that in 2025. She introduced a bill that would treat 3D-printed firearms like regular firearms, requiring a license to manufacture them.
Shusterman tried to pass similar legislation last year, but it didn’t move forward. She is hopeful that with bipartisan support, this common-sense law can pass in the new session.
Two years ago, the Biden administration introduced a rule to treat ghost guns the same as commercially sold firearms. This rule is currently in effect, but the Supreme Court will decide if it should stay in place, with a decision expected in June.