President Joe Biden's administration unveiled new steps on Monday aimed at reducing the proliferation of "ghost weapons," which are unserialized, privately-made handguns that law enforcement officers are increasingly discovering at crime scenes across the United States.

Last year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received about 20,000 reports of suspected ghost weapons recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations, a ten-fold increase from 2016. Due to the lack of serial numbers on "ghost guns," law enforcement in the United States has a difficult time connecting a ghost gun found at a crime scene back to an individual purchaser.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a new rule prohibiting the manufacture of the most accessible "ghost guns," such as unserialized "buy build shoot" kits that people can buy online or in stores without a background check and easily assemble into a working firearm in as little as 30 minutes using household items.

It clarifies that these kits qualify as "firearms" under the Gun Control Act, requiring commercial manufacturers to obtain federal licences and include serial numbers on the kits' frame or receiver, as well as commercial sellers to obtain federal licences and conduct background checks prior to selling them.

The law applies to all "ghost guns," regardless of how they were created, which can include 3D printing and kits, and federally licenced dealers will be required to serialise any unserialized firearms in their inventory.  Along with Vice President Kamala Harris and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Biden announced the additional actions from the Rose Garden at the White House on Monday afternoon as part of his administration's attempts to prevent gun violence.

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