President Biden Expected Today to Require Background Checks for Sales of Ghost Guns

By Yehudit Garmaise

President Joe Biden is expected today to expand the definition of firearms that requires background checks to include “ghost guns,” which are unregulated firearms that are made from kits bought online and assembled at home, just days after a 17-year-old boy killed a 16-year-old girl with a ghost gun in New York City.

Cities nationwide, and New York City, in particular, have recently seen a rise in shootings that result from untraceable weapons that do not have serial numbers. Since Jan. 1, the NYPD reported recovering 130 ghost guns from the city’s streets.

Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the president and the federal government to issue new regulations that stop the continuous explosions of violence that result from ghost guns after 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan, who had no criminal record, opened fire on three of his classmates, killed one: 16-year-old Angellyh Yambo and injuring two others on Friday afternoon, just after school let out in the Bronx. 

“I sent my daughter to get an education, and she died,” said Yanely Henriquez, Angellyh’s heartbroken mother.

“Right now, when you buy these pieces, you can buy the barrel, the stock, and the trigger: with no serial numbers and no requirements that the sellers do background checks,” said Sen. Schumer, who spoke with urgency about the epidemic of ghost guns flowing into New York City and Long Island. “We have to do something to stop it.”