ATF's Proposed Rules Threaten a Legal Mess but No End to Ghost Guns

Regulations might reshape DIY gun products, but they can’t eliminate the demand that created the industry.

There's little reason to expect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) proposed "ghost gun" regulations to actually eliminate ghost guns. That doesn't mean that plans to regulate the market for 80 percent receivers and otherwise impose new red tape on gun users and makers won't have an impact—they will undoubtedly create headaches for many people. But it does mean that the vague verbiage in the proposed rules has a long way...