lehighvalleylive.com:

If Congress won’t close the “ghost gun” loophole — and that prospect seems unlikely, even with popular demand running high for common-sense gun restrictions — state legislatures must lead the way.

Ghost guns are rifles, shotguns or handguns that can be purchased legally, usually on the internet, and assembled at home. No registration or background check necessary — and no serial numbers. These weapons are a favored source of untraceable guns for criminals. They’re also a hit with many law-abiding gun enthusiasts and hobbyists.

Ghost guns have been used in single and mass killings across the country. The sales of these parts and kits can be banned outright — the New Jersey Legislature is considering this possibility now — but this can be a difficult flow to track.

At the least, gun kits should be regulated as other firearms are, requiring that sellers conduct background checks to ensure buyers are free of criminal records and mental health/domestic abuse restrictions. Gun components sold in kits should be identified by serial numbers. Sellers should be licensed.

Last week people in the Lehigh Valley learned through a local example how ghost guns can be obtained by felons.

Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin announced that a state trooper had been justified in shooting and killing an armed man, Aaron Ibrahem, in an Allentown-area Walmart in March. Martin said the weapon that prompted the trooper’s fire had been bought in parts and assembled by Ibrahem, even though he was prohibited by a criminal record from buying or possessing a gun.

Martin said Ibrahem was able to buy a serial-numbered slide/barrel, also known as an upper, for a Glock .40-caliber handgun, and then attached it a frame/receiver, or a lower, to make it functional.

“Ironically, this integral part of the pistol may be purchased legally on the internet (eBay) without scrutiny — no ATF form required,” Martin wrote. “It is not considered to be a firearm.”

The horror!  You can buy a barrel on the internet.  A barrel, for crying out loud?  A rifled tube of steel with a barrel lug!

If it wasn’t so amusing that someone thinks this is somehow complex manufacturing, it would be sad.  And I suppose it is sad that these folks know close to nothing about tool and die work, machinery, manufacturing processes, or metallurgy.

The editorial does essentially nothing except testify to the disconnectedness of people who write editorials with the great unwashed America who actually earns a living by the sweat of their brow, ingenuity, hard work, tenacity and patience.