KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Wednesday, new federal legislation is set to go into effect that will, for the first time, regulate ghost guns.

Steve Brackeen is the owner at Blue Steel Guns and Ammo and said he doesn’t deal with ghost guns all too much but understands why regulation is imminent.

“Untraceable guns are showing up in crimes cause because they’re untraceable,” he said.

He’s exactly right – just over a month ago North Kansas City Police Officer Daniel Vasquez was gun down with a ghost gun.

Less than seven months ago a school shooting at Olathe East – the gunman used a ghost gun.

The ATF said more than 99% of ghost guns recovered at crime scenes can’t be traced to an owner.

“It’s probably a good idea to have serial numbers on guns.” Brackeen said.

The new legislation that was signed by President Joe Biden in April seeks to ensure every gun on American streets from here on out has a serial number and is traceable.

The new law will affect 3D printed guns, guns bought in kits and force the buyer to put them together.
Another goal of the administration deals with background checks – because ghost guns allow those obtaining them to skip that part of the process.

FOX4 spoke with law enforcement agencies on both sides of the state line who support the new federal law set for the books tomorrow – but none of those agencies could go on camera.

The Kansas City Police Department released a statement saying “the number of ghost guns that we’ve recovered on a regular basis is relatively small…here in Kansas City, we do not believe that this will have a significant impact on reducing gun violence.”

With the countdown on – less than 24 hours away and Brackeen said they haven’t seen an uptick of sales or transfers of parts when it comes to ghost guns and he said although it’s a good move he doesn’t believe the change will be substantial.

“Legislation does not stop crime, the prosecution of criminals stops crimes,” he said.

It’s important to note that if you have a ghost gun now – it will be grandfathered in. This new regulation will come down and will be enforced by the ATF starting at midnight Wednesday.