Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday he is allowing the legislation, which addresses issues around untraceable firearms, to pass without signature.
“I appreciate the work you have put into Senate Bill 387/House Bill 425 to address issues surrounding untraceable firearms, and agree that it is a positive step as we seek to stem the tide of violent crime, which is why I am allowing it to take effect,” Hogan said in a statement.
“But it does nothing to penalize those who actually pull the triggers on firearms, and deflects away from the need to take decisive action to hold violent criminals accountable,” the statement read.
Data show the guns have been involved in shootings and found at crime scenes with increasing frequency, CNN reported.
More than two-thirds of the country’s most populous cities recorded more homicides in 2021 than the previous year, with at least 10 setting all-time homicide records and the majority committed with a firearm, according to a CNN analysis of police department data.
Hochul signed legislation in October to address the gun violence epidemic, which included prohibiting “the sale of ghost guns and requiring gunsmiths and dealers in firearms to register firearms in their possession,” according to the governor’s office.
Following a 2021 directive from the Biden Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) proposed a rule in May last year to allow the bureau to classify the building blocks that often make up ghost guns as firearms.
The ATF rule addresses a key problem in tracking and regulating ghost guns because certain frames and receivers used to assemble the guns are often purchased online and not classified as firearms by the bureau.
CNN’s Priya Krishnakumar contributed to this report.
Quoted from Various Sources
Published for: The Bloggers Briefing
