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Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law Wednesday (May 18) officially banning "ghost guns" across the state, becoming the first in the Midwest to do so.
The move seeks to cut down on the number of "ghost guns" –– or the privately-made firearms that don't have serial numbers and are often sold for parts in kits that can be assembled at homes, allowing some to bypass background checks.
Supporters of the bill say that these guns "cannot be traced by conventional means and can be created on a 3D printer, leaving no record of their ownership."
"The people creating, selling, and purchasing these firearms know that they're working to circumvent common-sense gun laws that ensure guns stay out of the hands of traffickers, abusers, and convicted criminals," Pritzker said in a statement.
"We are seeing these unserialized guns being built in basements by those who should never have had access to such dangerous weapons and then used to commit heinous crimes, and it must be stopped to keep Illinoisans safe," the governor added.
The new law comes after President Joe Biden made a similar rule last month at the federal level. Under that rule, weapons that fall into the "ghost gun" category must be given a serial number and be reclassified as a firearm.
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