The Bill Introduction Comes After Reports Showing that the Firearm Used in the Recent Shooting at Olathe East High School which Left Three Wounded Involved a Ghost Gun
The Kansas chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statements after the lawmakers introduced HB 2743 and SB 752, legislation that would prohibit the possession and manufacture of ghost guns – unserialized, untraceable homemade firearms, the building blocks of which can be obtained without a background check. The legislation also prohibits the sale and possession of unserialized, unfinished firearm parts. Earlier this month, two people were wounded in a shooting at Olathe East High School in Olathe, Kansas. Recent reports show that the firearm used in the shooting was a ghost gun.
“We are grateful that our lawmakers are taking swift action to protect our communities and ensure that the tragic incident that happened at my school won’t happen again,” said Luciana De Anda, a volunteer with Johnson County group of Students Demand Action. “Ghost guns are dangerous, impossible to trace, and too easy to obtain without a background check – and they don’t belong in our communities. We should not have to grow up in fear of gun violence. The legislature should prioritize advancing this critical bill.”
Ghost guns are one of the fastest-growing gun safety problems facing our country. Ghost guns are impossible to trace, and across the country, law enforcement officers are recovering increasing numbers of homemade, unserialized guns from people who are legally prohibited from having guns. Nearly 2,500 ghost guns were connected to criminal activity in 102 federal cases over the past decade. ATF officials recently estimated that approximately 10,000 ghost guns were recovered across the U.S. in 2019.
In an average year, 434 people die and 878 people are wounded by guns in Kansas. Gun violence costs Kansas $2.9 billion each year, of which $111.2 million is paid by taxpayers. Learn more about gun violence in Kansas here. More information about ghost guns is available here.
