Pa. should join ban on assault weapon kit sales

Any push to ban assault weapons should not be subverted by the ability to buy the parts needed to build one.

Meet the latest “weapon” in the gun wars.

This is something called a “ghost gun.”

If only the carnage it is capable of inflicting were some kind of apparition. Unfortunately, it’s all too real.

A “ghost gun” refers to a weapon that can be built from a kit purchased online.

There you have it, a buildit-yourself AR-15 assault rifle.

They are perfectly legal in many states, including Pennsylvania. But no longer in New Jersey.

This week authorities announced the arrest of 12 men they allege were part of a criminal network based in Camden County that was trafficking in “ghost guns.”

They were the first in the state to be charged under a new state law that bans the use of such “ghost guns.”

The problems these weapons create for police are many, but one stands out: They are untraceable.

There are no serial numbers. And, these online transactions require little or nothing in the way of ID, date of birth or a background check.

The New Jersey case represents a troublesome development for Pennsylvania for several reasons. First, the Keystone State – not surprisingly – has no such law banning the online purchase of materials to build a “ghost gun.” It’s not surprising that officials said these guns are making their way to Pennsylvania as a way of trying to get around the new crackdown in New Jersey.

During a year-long probe dubbed Operation Stone Wall, police recovered parts for an assault rifle that were being shipped to Bensalem.

Pennsylvania has no law to block online sales of the parts needed for “do-it-yourselfers” to build their own assault weapon. Buyers are shipping the parts to spots across the river and them moving the across the bridge to Camden.

“This case starkly illustrates why ghost guns are so dangerous, because drug dealers and other criminals can easily acquire them and traffic them in our communities, where they will virtually be untraceable if used in a crime,” said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in announcing the arrests.

It also starkly illustrates how far Pennsylvania continues to lag in terms of realistic, constitutional gun measures.

The state Legislature made progress in the last session, passing meaningful measures to get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and others who clearly should no longer posses them.

Sen. Tom Killion, R-9th Dist., led the charge in getting a bill passed that would bring about needed change in getting guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. The bill would require a person convicted of domestic abuse, or with a final protection from abuse decree against them, to surrender their firearms to law enforcement or a registered gun deal, not just to a friend or family member, as had been the case in the past. The law also required them to do so within 24 hours.

It marked the first time in more than a decade that legislation dealing directly with firearms made it to the governor’s desk, showing a few creases in the fortress that gun advocates and the National Rifle Association has erected around this state’s gun laws.

Then, back in February, with the echoes of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh still fresh in our minds, Gov. Tom Wolf called for more reforms.

A bill currently in the Legislature would again push to expand background checks, something that would put teeth into the often-debated notion of “common sense” gun control.

There are other measures as well.

And with the reverberations from the horror in New Zealand still ringing in our ears, now would be the time.

At the top of that list should again be something that most would concede is common sense.

Any push to ban the sale of assault weapons should not be subverted by the ability to buy online the parts needed to build one.

Pennsylvania should join New Jersey in adding this legislation to law enforcement’s arsenal in stemming the flow of illegal guns on our streets.