Banning Ghost Guns Won't Stop Criminals But Might Create More

PETERSEN: Banning Ghost Guns Won't Stop Criminals But Might Create More - AMP
America

Austin Petersen

The recent murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly committed
with a 3D-printed "ghost gun," has reignited calls for stricter firearm
regulations.

It's a familiar pattern. Tragedy strikes, and lawmakers rush to "do something"
without fully thinking through the consequences. The problem is, history shows
us that sweeping gun control measures often backfire, creating more problems
than they solve. And there is no tragedy, no matter how great, that justifies
taking away the rights of innocent people.

Take the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It was supposed to reduce violent
crime by banning certain semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Instead, it did little more than drive demand for banned firearms into
underground markets. Studies conducted during and after the ban's ten-year
lifespan found no measurable impact on overall crime rates. Criminals simply
found other ways to arm themselves, and law-abiding citizens bore the brunt of
the restrictions. And still do!

Australia's 1996 gun buyback program offers another perfect example. After a
mass shooting, the government confiscated and destroyed over 650,000 firearms.
While proponents of the policy hailed it as a success, the reality was more
complicated. A black market for firearms quickly emerged, undermining the
program's goal of keeping guns out of criminal hands. Instead of reducing crime,
it handed criminals yet another lucrative opportunity.

Even Canada's long-gun registry, which required non-restricted firearms to be
registered starting in 1995, turned into a bureaucratic nightmare. Many gun
owners simply refused to comply, rendering the registry incomplete and
ineffective. Add to that the billions of dollars it cost taxpayers, and it's no
wonder the program was eventually scrapped in 2012. The lesson here? You can
legislate all you want, but if the public doesn't buy into the rules, or worse,
if they actively resist them, you're left with an expensive failure.

Banning something doesn't make it go away. It just pushes it underground, where
it's harder to regulate and often even more dangerous. This is exactly the risk
we face with ghost guns. These firearms, which can be assembled from kits or
created with a 3D printer, have no serial numbers, making them untraceable. Law
enforcement is already struggling to address this trend, and an outright ban
would likely make things worse. Instead of eliminating ghost guns, it would
drive their production further into the shadows, creating a thriving black
market and making it even harder to track who has them.

The enforcement side of this is no picnic either. Every hour law enforcement
spends trying to police ghost gun bans is an hour not spent tackling more
pressing public safety concerns. Resources are finite, and when you create a new
set of laws to enforce, you stretch those resources even thinner. Meanwhile, the
real criminals just adapt. It's a game of cat and mouse that law enforcement
rarely wins.

So, what's the alternative? Instead of rushing to ban ghost guns, let's focus on
strategies that actually address the root causes of gun violence. Expanding
access to mental health services, promoting community-based violence prevention
programs, and educating the public about safe and responsible gun ownership are
all far more effective than blanket bans. These approaches respect individual
rights while addressing the problem at its source, without creating the
unintended consequences we've seen time and again.

https://ampamerica.com/banning-ghost-guns-wont-stop-criminals-but-might-create-more/