Homemade, untraceable
from hundreds of websites without the kind of background check required for traditional gun purchases.
“The more restrictive the laws become for people to purchase firearms, we’re going to see those criminal elements build their own,” Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said. “That’s what they do.”
In Neal’s case, he had been ordered to give up all his guns earlier this year under a restraining order that was issued against him after he was charged with assaulting two women who lived nearby. He signed a document in February saying he had surrendered a 9 mm handgun to a gun store, which also attested to that. When Neal was arrested in January, police seized an AR-15 Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle.
Although making a ghost gun is legal, selling one is not. Federal officials are sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade military-style semiautomatic rifles and handguns.
Mills where guns are built are popping up across the
country, especially in California, which has strict gun laws. By 2019, people who own or create homemade firearms in California will have to apply for a serial number from the state and permanently affix it to the weapon.
The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings, no license required.
Converting the piece of metal into a firearm is relatively simple and takes only a few hours. A drill press or a metal cutting machine known as a Computer Numeric Control is used to create a few holes in the receiver and well out a cavity. The receiver is then combined with a few other parts to create a fully functioning semiautomatic rifle or handgun.
Ghost guns are increasingly turning up at crime scenes and being bought from gang members and other criminals by undercover federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents.
Cody Wilson, who runs a website and sells unfinished receivers and a Computer Numeric Control machine specifically marketed for making ghost guns, said that although no law requires that he conduct background checks, he tries to take precautions to make sure the weapons aren’t used nefariously. For example, he said, he won’t sell to foreigners.
Wilson said that each month he sells about 175 Ghost Gunner machines for about $1,700 each. Customers can use them over and over to mill out their guns. Wilson said that most of his customers are gun enthusiasts and survivalists who enjoy building military-style weapons.
“There’s a genuine excitement,” he said.