CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina gun shop owner is reacting to President Joe Biden’s latest plan to crack down on “ghost guns.” 

What You Need To Know

“Ghost guns” can be 3D printed and assembled at home without any background checks or serial numbers, which makes them difficult to trace

The regulations will require producers of gun kits to include serial numbers on firearms and sellers to follow the same guidelines that apply to other guns

They also require background checks to buy these kits

“Ghost guns” can be 3D printed and assembled at home without any background checks or serial numbers, which makes them difficult to trace. 

The regulations will require producers of gun kits to include serial numbers on firearms and sellers to follow the same guidelines that apply to other guns. They also require background checks to buy these kits.

The Biden administration’s new policy to regulate “ghost guns” has Hyatt Gun Shop owner Larry Hyatt wondering how it’ll impact his business in Charlotte. 

“Something as simplistic, like 'ghost guns,' has a whole lot of complicated stuff that goes with it,” Hyatt said. “And that needs to be sorted out so we can obey the law and make sure the good citizens get the guns and not the bad ones. That's the goal.” 

Hyatt stores hundreds of boxes filled with records of every gun sold at his store, which is required by law. 

“All these records currently have to be kept for 20 years,” Hyatt said. “The new regulation being proposed we would, I guess, keep them indefinitely.”

The records help law enforcement trace guns back to a firearms dealer. That’s nearly impossible to do with “ghost guns” since they’re privately assembled without serial numbers. That’s something the new regulations aim to change.

“These partial guns will have to have a serial number on them, and whoever sells them will have to have a license from the government, record keeping, background check on them, and whoever they sell it to will have to go through a firearms dealer to get it,” Hyatt said. “And the question is it just the frame of the gun and how many of the parts are going to be serial numbered?” 

Hyatt’s shop also repairs guns. He’s still unsure how the updated policy could affect that side of his business as well.

“If we have to buy parts to repair a firearm, and those parts are serialized, then that gun might become two guns because it has one serial number as the original gun,” Hyatt said. “And that part will have a serial number as a separate record to be kept and maybe even another background check, it could be very complex.”

The rule goes into effect 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

To learn more about the Biden administration’s updated definitions and regulations, visit the White House’s website.