So-called ghost guns get a lot of press. I’ve pointed out more times than I care to count how the impact they have on crime is overstated significantly, but they’re still getting that press.

And, to be fair, if you believe you can keep guns out of some people’s hands via laws, homemade firearms represent a threat because they allow people to bypass the system put in place to keep guns away from certain parties.

In Massachusetts, where they have tons of gun control laws, they recent held a discussion about “ghost guns.”

Local residents voiced varied opinions on the state’s complex gun laws and the issue of ghost guns during a legislative listening session at UMass Lowell’s O’Leary Library Tuesday night.

In front of several Massachusetts lawmakers — including Reps. Rodney Elliott and Vanna Howard, D-Lowell — attendees challenged restrictions they feel oppose their freedoms as gun owners, while others questioned whether current enforcement is enough. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan also sat in on the discussion.

…

Massachusetts State Trooper Steve Grasso explained his work investigating ghost guns: firearms that are put together by a person at home that typically have no serial numbers and are untraceable. Grasso himself managed to buy parts of guns in person and online, successfully manufacturing and test-firing several different weapons.

Technology like 3D printers, as well as the accessibility of gun parts and accessories on Amazon and other retailers, makes the process incredibly easy, Grasso said.

“Basically anyone can do it,” said Grasso, who also works with Homeland Security Investigations and is currently assigned to the attorney general’s office.

Now, no one should be surprised that the gun-control supporters in the state are concerned by this fact. I understand it quite well.

However, that genie isn’t going back in the bottle. The technology is out there and readily available. You can buy 3D printers off the internet and because there are a lot of other uses for it, you’ll have a hard time restricting those anytime soon.

Hell, we have them sitting in public schools right now. That’s where my son got to mess around with one for the first time.

Grasso’s comments, though, aren’t wrong. Anyone can build a so-called ghost gun. You can try to restrict it all you want, but that’s not likely to accomplish much. After all, if they’re willing to break the law by having a gun when they’re not supposed to, do you think they’ll blink at making that gun when they’re not supposed to?

Of course they won’t.

The truth is that the 3D printer marks the end of any hope gun control advocates had for actually restricting gun ownership. You simply can’t do it, even in Massachusetts.

The “ghost gun” isn’t the end of the world, but it does mark the end of gun control.

If people want to have any hope in hell of reducing violent crime, they have to start looking at non-gun control options. They have to start looking at the people involved rather than the weapons they used, whether they want to or not.