Los Angeles City Councilmen Paul Koretz, 5th District, and Paul Krekorian, 2nd District, co-presented a motion on Aug. 10 requesting the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to draft an ordinance prohibiting the possession, purchase, sale, receipt and transportation of non-serialized firearms and unfinished gun parts in the city of Los Angeles.

Commonly known as ghost guns, the non-serialized firearms have been linked to an increase in shootings and a surge of crime in the city, the lawmakers said. The gun parts are frequently sold online in kits that cost $400 to $525, and can be assembled at home with little expertise, according to the motion by Koretz and Krekorian.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives issued a rule that would expand the definition of a firearm to include weapons that can be assembled at home.

The rule proposed by the councilmen aims to hold ready-to-assemble gun kits to the same legal standards as completed, serialized guns.

“Shootings and homicides have surged since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Los Angeles has been no exception. As of July 2021 homicides are up nearly 30% over last year and shootings are up 43%,” Koretz said. “Additionally, over 40% of guns confiscated by the ATF, and one third of crime guns recovered by the LAPD in Los Angeles in 2020, were ghost guns. With such staggering numbers and the sharp increase in hate crimes, we cannot turn a blind eye on a backdoor that allows criminals to gain access to firearms when they would otherwise be denied through the front door.”

“Ghost guns are deliberately designed to avoid tracing, and when sold without background checks, end up in the possession of felons,” added Krekorian, who earlier this year sponsored a motion allowing a city lawsuit to go forward with pro bono counsel against Nevada-based Polymer 80, one of the nation’s largest sellers of ghost gun kits. “In Los Angeles, ghost guns were a factor in the sharp rise in homicides in 2020. This motion enables the city to move aggressively to significantly reduce the number of non-serialized firearms in our communities.”

The motion will next be heard by the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee.