The phrase “ghost gun” is pretty popular with the media as a way to describe unserialized firearms. It sounds scary, like they’re just beneath the surface, with no way to be monitored or traced, which makes them all the more terrifying.

The truth is that any gun without a serial number, including those where it has been removed, qualifies as a “ghost gun.”

Still, the Biden administration decided they needed to act on homemade firearms, which are what people are really scared of. After all, bad people can make their own guns, which is a problem because it means they don’t have to buy them on the black market or anything.

In North Carolina, a media outlet was apparently surprised to learn that the Biden administration’s new rules didn’t actually do much.

Last year, the federal government finally took some notable action.

The Biden Administration issued guidance in 2022 to make these unfinished parts subjected to the same regulation as completed firearms.

A new rule in April 2022 required gun manufacturers to complete background checks and add serial numbers to parts.

“This isn’t about denying anyone the right to buy a ghost gun. It’s saying if you buy a ghost gun, do a background check. Let’s make sure you’re not a criminal and have a serial number so that if this gun is used in the commission of a crime, we can identify where it came from,” Stein said. “These apply to all other gun purchases. Why should ghost guns be different? They shouldn’t be.”

Some companies have been able to avoid compliance by receiving exemptions through rulings with the courts.

Despite, the crackdown, the ABC11 I-Team purchased parts for a popular name-brand handgun online after the rule went into effect and received parts without serial numbers and the site did not conduct a background check.

“That wouldn’t surprise me at all,” Pucino said. “It does alarm me.”

That’s because they went to buy parts, not a completed firearm.

See, the Biden administration may have created some rules, but those rules aren’t very difficult to get around in the first place.

Plus, what they say they ordered were parts. Well, parts weren’t part of the ATF’s new rule anyway, because parts serve lawful purposes other than building a firearm.

The truth is that guns are complicated pieces of equipment and sometimes, things break. You’re always going to need access to gun parts.

And that’s not even touching on upgrading anything.

When we talk about “ghost guns,” one important point to keep in mind is that this is the era of the 3D printer. Even if you regulate incomplete receivers into oblivion, people will still be able to make their own guns. They don’t need those receivers anymore, and that’s the only thing that counts as a gun.

So while the media is shocked to learn you can bypass the rules in place pretty easily, they don’t even know the half of it.

It’s really beyond time to abandon the whole gun control experiment, and so-called ghost guns are why. That genie is out of the bottle and you’re never getting it back inside. Criminals have access to guns no matter what you try to do and will continue to have that access.

It’s time to look elsewhere to reduce violent crime.