Denver passes law banning 'ghost guns' in city

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File

The making of firearms in one’s own home or workshop is a time-honored tradition here in the United States. Even Great Britain, with its tyrannical oversight over the American colonies, didn’t try to put an end to that particular practice. The city of Denver, however, is.

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It seems that the government in the Mile High City thinks that if it passed a regulation banning so-called “ghost guns,” which is basically any gun that doesn’t have a serial number, they would somehow accomplish something. So, it did.

It will soon be illegal to own or manufacture “ghost guns” within Denver after the Denver City Council passed changes to the city’s weapons code on Monday.

Ghost guns are homemade firearms that don’t have serial numbers or markings, meaning they can’t be tracked to their maker, seller or original owner. They are often made by buying pre-made parts and assembling them at home, or by 3D-printing non-serialized parts.

Currently, Denver’s weapons code allows for ghost guns because the law considers the parts used to assemble firearms to be components, not firearms themselves, said City Attorney Kristin Bronson. That means firearm parts can bypass regulations.

“There is no single solution to preventing gun violence in our communities, but this ordinance is an important step toward keeping these unregistered and untraceable firearms off our streets and out of the hands of those banned from gun ownership,” Bronson said.

Bronson said the existing loophole allows minors and people with criminal records to get guns without background checks. Without a serial number, ghost guns also make it more difficult to solve crimes and get insight into gun trafficking patterns.

Yes, because those who would break the law would never think to break the law. BRILLIANT!

Clearly, Bronson has figured it all out.

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But what about lawful gun owners who want to make their own guns? It seems to me that if the markings are the problem, then simply add the required markings. As long as you’re not making it with the intention of selling it, the feds shouldn’t care that you’re doing that.

Of course, this isn’t legal advice. This is just some guy on the internet speculating. After all, something I enjoy doing is figuring out how to skirt stupid laws like this nonsense Denver is pulling.

Yet, since I’m neither an attorney nor have I played one on TV, it’s probably best you talk to an actual lawyer about this kind of thing first.

If I’m right, then the impact of such a law on Denver’s violent crime rate should be…well, about the same regardless. After all, so-called “ghost guns” are not nearly the threat anti-Second Amendment types try to make them out to be.

This is nothing more than a new moral panic, one driven by anti-Second Amendment sentiment but with no real basis in truth, especially since it’s highly unlikely that the bad guys are going to roll over and shrug over not being able to make illegal firearms because of the law.

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