Law enforcement officers across the country increasingly find there is no way to trace certain guns they recover from crime scenes. Because these guns are not marked with serial numbers, there is no way to track their origins or their owners. And because they are sold without a background check, anyone can buy them. 

They truly are "ghost guns."

These unmarked guns are easy to buy, particularly in the form of a build-your-own kit that allows someone to quickly turn parts in a box into a gun capable of firing a bullet.

Last year, President Joe Biden and I announced that I had directed the federal agency responsible for regulating firearms, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to modernize our regulations to reflect the fact that today's firearms need not be cast or forged but can be created from kits and by 3D printers. The Department of Justice committed to take action to prevent criminals and other prohibited people from easily purchasing untraceable guns.