TV Media Bias Pushing More False Claims about Ghost Guns, ABC’s The Rookie
“Ghost guns” are homemade guns. It is already illegal to sell these guns because they don’t have serial numbers. Guns are pretty simple items to build. You can build a shotgun with a few pipes and a nail. Requiring background checks on all parts of guns has been one of the goals of Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown.
Once again, Bloomberg’s gun control organizations could have written a recent episode of ABC’s The Rookie (indeed, it probably was) (Season 5, Episode 21, April 25, 2023). This episode combines the myths of purely plastic guns that can evade security and claims that being able to trace guns is extremely important for solving crimes.
Here is a news story on purely plastic guns. Note that a .17-centimeter bullet is an extremely small, very unusual caliber bullet.
As for the materials, in order to manufacture a gun with an FDM 3D printer, one can choose between several types of thermoplastics. However, it is usually either PLA or ABS that is used for this purpose. But even these thermoplastics are not perfect for the fabrication of a functional gun. PLA is softer, so a part made from it typically deforms very quickly. ABS is harder, but it only means that it will crack and break rather than deform. Therefore, the user can usually only fire one bullet before a thermoplastic part breaks – the explosive force of firing a bullet being too powerful. For example, in 2013, a police department in Australia tested out a 3D printed gun: they were able to fire a .17 centimeters bullet, but the plastic immediately exploded once the bullet was discharged.
Aysha M., “3D printed guns: where are we now?” 3D Natives, September 2, 2020.
In addition, the notion that these regulations will stop criminals from getting guns is a fantasy. The show would have you believe that creating a registry of all guns’ rifling patterns is important in solving crime. New York and Maryland tried this, spending many tens of millions of dollars over decades, but they couldn’t point to a single crime they had been able to solve. Gun control advocates claimed that 15 years for Maryland’s system just wasn’t long enough to show benefits. Having background checks on all the parts of guns is also seen as important to create a national gun registry, but again registries have never been useful in solving crime.
Gun control advocates push for these background checks not because they believe they will reduce crime but just to make it costly for people to buy guns.
Not only are there already ways for criminals to get guns, such as drug dealers. It is just as difficult to stop criminals from getting guns to stop them from buying illegal drugs. The same source provides both items. In addition, technology is advancing to make it extremely difficult to stop criminals from getting guns, and the regulations are more likely to stop law-abiding citizens than criminals.
More examples are available here.
ABC’s The Rookie, Season 5, Episode 21, April 25, 2023
Here is a video on Hollywood’s bias against guns.
