Harrisburg, PA (WENY)-- Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is issuing a new legal opinion on 80% receivers. Commonly used to make “ghost guns,” these receivers will now be classified as firearms, making them illegal to own in Pennsylvania if you’re banned from owning guns.

Before Monday, it was legal for any person, regardless of background, to own an 80% receiver in Pennsylvania. But with Attorney General Shapiro’s legal opinion, that’s no longer the case.

“As a result of my legal opinion, felons and other prohibited persons will not be permitted to have receivers like these,” Attorney General Shapiro says.

A receiver is the part of a gun that houses the internal firing components. An 80% receiver is one that’s sold incomplete, but can easily be turned into a functioning firearm by drilling a few holes and buying additional parts. These receivers are sold at gun shows without background checks, making it easy for someone banned from owning a gun to get their hands on one.

“This presents a significant threat to our public safety, it undermines law-abiding citizens, and it makes our jobs in law enforcement harder,” says Shapiro.

The legal opinion comes as the Pennsylvania State Police asked the Attorney General’s office for guidance on how to classify 80% receivers under the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act. According to the Commonwealth Attorney Act, a state agency, or the Governor, can ask the Attorney General to issue a formal interpretation of the state law. Once the Attorney General thoroughly examines the law, they can issue a legal opinion.

“Under the statute, it doesn’t matter that these are not fully finished products. They are receivers and, therefore, they are firearms. Pure and simple,” Shapiro explains.

An 80% receiver turned into a firearm is known as a “ghost gun.” That’s because they are typically unserialized, and are practically untraceable. Governor Tom Wolf says this opinion doesn’t infringe on Second Amendment rights. That’s because 80% receivers are still legal to own if you’re allowed to own a gun. But if you are restricted from owning guns, you’re no longer allowed to buy or own these receivers in Pennsylvania.

“Changing this classification will not hurt legal, responsible gun owners. This change will stop criminals, it will stop terrorists, and other lawless people who can’t pass a background check from acquiring a gun through a loophole that should never have existed in the first place,” says Governor Tom Wolf.

According to the Attorney General Shapiro’s office, more than 100 “ghost guns” that started as 80% receivers have been recovered in Philadelphia alone. Due to this legal opinion, any state agency, including Pennsylvania State Police, Sheriff’s Departments, and local police across Pennsylvania, will treat receivers as firearms.

Moving forward, if any person banned from owning guns is found with an 80% receiver, they can be charged with illegal possession of a firearm.