Public safety panel fails to advance bill prohibiting possession of ‘ghost guns’

So-called “ghost guns” are firearms lacking serial numbers that can be 3D printed or assembled at home from kits sold online.

HF3407, which would ban the sale and possession of ghost guns, received strong support from Attorney General Keith Ellison at Tuesday’s House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee meeting.

“Criminals know that if you want to commit a crime with a gun, get a ghost gun,” he said, citing their untraceability that can significantly undermine law enforcement investigations.

Plus, when firearms are entirely 3D printed or assembled from kits purchased online, the background check process is bypassed entirely, thereby allowing dangerous individuals to illegally acquire a gun, said Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL-St. Paul), the bill sponsor.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara calls that outcome “unacceptable for law enforcement.”

Despite the support of Ellison, O’Hara, and a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the committee failed to advance the proposal on a 10-10 party-line vote.

The bill would:

• prohibit the sale and possession of ghost guns;
• limit 3D printing of firearms;
• prohibit distribution of 3D printer firearm design files;
• require printing serial numbers on firearms; and
• place limits on the assembly of firearms.

The possession, sale, transfer, or distribution of a ghost gun would be a felony, as would altering a gun’s existing serial number.

O’Hara said those provisions would be a good step toward reducing the incidence of gun trafficking, which has grown significantly in the last decade in tandem with the “exponential” growth of ghost guns.

O’Hara said ATF statistics show that 187 ghost guns were traced in Minnesota from 2017-2021. This number jumped to 631 in 2022-2023, a 237% increase.

Bill opponents cite historical precedence for possessing homemade guns.

For generations, Minnesotans could legally manufacture their own firearms, said Anna Leamy, director of government relations and advocacy for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.

Plus, she said, Minnesota law already forbids gun possession by prohibited persons, gun trafficking, straw purchasing, and the use of firearms in violent crime. “Expanding criminal liability for law-abiding citizens engaged in historically lawful conduct does not better serve public safety.”