U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants federal lawmakers to work across the political aisle and take swift action to reach a deal on immigration reform and keep a 35-year national ban of fully plastic ghost guns intact.

A provision that federally criminalizes fully plastic ghost guns, or firearms a person puts together themselves, will expire March 8 — or in just over a month. The weapon parts can be purchased online or 3D printed, and are difficult for police to trace or detect and are more likely to be used to commit a crime.

"I'm here today to say we cannot allow this to happen," Schumer said Monday of the soon-to-be lapsed rule, speaking at the Albany Police Department.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Undetectable Firearms Act, which banned firearms undiscoverable by metal detectors or X-ray scanners. The current law requires guns to have at least 4 ounces of metal, or about the weight of roll of pennies. 

Schumer is pushing Congress to reauthorize the law and keep it illegal for people to make firearms out of fully plastic parts.

"And [these guns] could easily be bought and sold, making it terrifyingly easy for these weapons to show up at schools, at airports and big events because security would have no way of detecting them," Schumer said. "It's hard to fathom that we would allow that to happen."

Meanwhile, tensions are high for U.S. senators steeped in deep negotiations to reach a deal on border and immigration restrictions after a years-long political stalemate. The package would also include an agreement to send additional humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a letter to House Republicans on Friday the deal would be “dead on arrival." 

But Schumer said Monday lawmakers continue to hammer out issues that must be resolved to reach a deal, adding it will require both parties working together.

"You have to have Democrats and Republicans working together in the House and the Senate to get something done," Schumer told reporters in Albany. "But we're going to keep at it until we get something done because it's too important not to."

Sen. Schumer dismissed the speaker's sentiments, adding it would be impossible for a deal to land on the president's desk without bipartisan backing.

"There's no way to get this done," Schumer said. "[Johnson] can't even pass it in the House without bipartisan support." 

The majority leader declined to discuss how many Democratic votes he can secure in the Senate to reach a bipartisan deal. 

State and federal leaders are focused on immigration and public safety as the 2024 presidential, congressional and state races take shape.

State democratic lawmakers imposed strict regulations on ghost guns in 2021, making it illegal to possess a ghost gun in New York — one of a handful of U.S. states to have rules about the unconventional firearms on the books.

The Albany Police Department reported significant increase in the use of ghost guns since 2020, with a 71% increase in the use of ghost guns overall, Schumer said. 

"Now ghost guns that are totally undetectable from scanning devices in some of our major places in our cities in Albany and across this country is extremely startling," Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said Monday. 

About 13.5% of the firearms people illegally possessed in the capital city in 2022 were ghost guns — most of which are manufactured in other states. Police said they share the fear of TSA agents' and other law enforcement that letting the ban expire would make it difficult to detect in sensitive areas and impact public safety.

Hawkins said it led to an uptick in gun violence that has since started to come down — reducing by 26% last year.

"We'll continue to push those numbers down," the chief said. "Every firearm-related incident that's reduced in our community is one less person that's victimized, and is one less community that's victimized. The fact of the matter is, we're dealing with people with this. And this can help with that."