President Biden is expected to announce Monday new policy measures on untraceable "ghost guns" and his replacement nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, two people with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
Republicans were united against Biden's first nominee, 25-year ATF veteran David Chipman, leading the White House to withdraw the nomination. Biden is expected to announce that he's chosen Steve Dettlebach as his replacement nominee, six people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Dettlebach served as a U.S. attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016.
With gun violence rising in many major cities across the United States, the White House has been urged to take steps against ghost guns. These weapons do not have serial numbers, so law enforcement can't track them or carry out background checks. Justice Department statistics show that from 2016 to 2020, law enforcement officials were able to recover almost 24,000 ghost guns from crime scenes.
The White House is expected to enact a rule changing the current definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, AP reports, and make it a requirement that dealers run background checks on people who want to buy ghost gun kits that contain the parts necessary to build a firearm.