There has been so much big talk from “the Big Guy”, aka “the Chairman”, Joe Biden on the “gun control” measures he intends on enacting. It’s hard to keep track of all the hyperbole and blatant non-sense that’s coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when it comes to the gun stuff. With Biden’s recent come at us cause’ we got nukes commentary, how can we really take what he’s saying seriously anymore?

One of the evil, naughty, and nasty things that Biden-Harris have been after are the mysterious and haunting ghost guns. There happens to be a bill to outlaw these mythical devices. Last month Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) introduced H.R. 3088: Untraceable Firearms Act of 2021. What does the bill aim to do? From a press release:

The Untraceable Firearms Act closes the ghost gun loophole by amending the existing definition of “firearm” under federal law to include gun kits and partial receivers and by changing the definition of “manufacturing firearms” to include assembling firearms using 3D printing technology. By modifying these definitions, the Untraceable Firearms Act ensures that ghost guns, including firearms manufactured or completed using 3D printing, are subject to existing federal firearm regulation, including:

• Requiring that anyone who participates in the production of frames or receivers has a manufacturer’s license.
• Requiring that the manufacturer serialize a partial receiver before it is transferred to another entity.
• Clarifying that purchasers must undergo a background check before acquiring a partial receiver.
• Prohibiting anyone other than a manufacturer or licensed importer from engraving a serial number on a firearm, so as to ensure that ATF is able to trace the firearm, kit, or receiver.

We also have this touching ode to the epidemic of “gun violence” from congresscritter Cicilline, channeling the etheric and holy principals of “commonsense”:

“Gun violence is a public health epidemic in our country. In recent years, the increased presence of ghost guns in our communities has made this problem even worse. These untraceable weapons make it harder for law enforcement to find and prosecute violent criminals,” said Cicilline. “This legislation will close the ghost gun loophole and make these weapons easier to trace. It’s just commonsense.”

It’s time to break the fourth wall for a second. This “commonsense” and “public health epidemic” rhetoric is really getting old. So you members of the anti freedom caucus out there that might be reading this, please change up your playbook. Your press releases and sound bites are getting boring. Maybe take a page outta Joe’s playbook and talk about nukes, at minimum he’s entertaining.

The bill text almost starts out like a prayer for relief:

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) without the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has the authority to regulate ghost guns (as defined in section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 3 of this Act) and unfinished frames and receivers; and

(2) the purpose of this Act is to clarify and strengthen such authority.

Things are not good. But they’re not the end of the world either. Right now the limits that the Biden-Harris administration has on them as to what they can and cannot do through the executive will hold them somewhat at bay. Yes, the Chipman appointment to the ATF is not a good thing. Nor is whatever awfulness the once-scorned Attorney General Garland is cooking up at DOJ. Sure, we can see the continued resurgence of things like Operation Choke Point. But without the full support of both the Senate and the House, he’s got a pile of things that can easily be challenged in court.

The introduction of this bill is more “look at me I’m doing something” garbage. The needed support is just not there to get it to the Oval Office. The fact that the bill is being introduced is almost a concession that the regulation of “ghost guns” cannot be done via the ATF, regardless what the bill text claims. A message that will hopefully get to the litigants that have to sue the government when overreach does occur. As for now, best have your seances with your ghost guns while you can. Never know what’s behind the curtain in this prize package we’ve been given.