Ghost Guns
Ghost Guns
What is the problem?
A ghost gun is a do-it-yourself, homemade gun made from easy-to-get building blocks that can be purchased with no background check and no questions asked. These guns are made by an individual, not a federally licensed manufacturer or importer. Ghost guns are the fastest-growing gun safety problem facing our country.
In less than one hour, these self-made weapons become fully functioning, untraceable firearms. A person can buy the parts and assemble a ghost gun without even receiving a background check.
They are becoming a weapon of choice for violent criminals, gun traffickers, and other legally prohibited persons. Federal authorities should act to ensure that the core parts for ghost guns are defined as firearms and properly regulated. States should also consider immediate action to regulate ghost guns.
Featured Resources

Ghost Guns Recoveries and Shootings
Everytown Research & Policy has collected examples of reported murders and shootings using ghost guns since 2013.

Undeniable: How Long-Standing Loopholes in the Background Check System Have Been Exacerbated by COVID-19
Loopholes must be addressed to ensure that guns are not sold without a completed background check.

ATF & the Rising Threat of Ghost Guns
Ghost guns are emerging as a weapon of choice for criminals, gun traffickers, extremists, and others banned from legally buying firearms.
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Ghost Guns
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The Smoking Gun
An online resource committed to exposing the gun industry’s role in our gun violence epidemic today.
Everytown Research & PolicyThe Gun Industry’s Power Broker: A Closer Look at the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the Front Group for America’s Gun Makers and Sellers
The NSSF isn’t as well known as the NRA, but it is just as extreme and exacerbates our gun violence epidemic.
Report
ATF’s Final Rule to End the Proliferation of Dangerous, Untraceable Ghost Guns
The ATF announced a final rulemaking clarifying that the core building blocks of ghost guns are firearms under the law.
Fact SheetUpdate Background Check Laws
Updating federal and state laws to require background checks on all gun sales is a common-sense way to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Fact Sheet
Untraceable: The Rising Specter of Ghost Guns
Ghost guns are do-it-yourself, homemade guns made from easy-to-get, unregulated building blocks.
Report
Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines
Many of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States have been carried out with assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Fact Sheet