17 ‘ghost gun’ suppliers halt sales in New York
State attorney general had sent companies warning letters in 2019
The state attorney general’s office said that 17 online “ghost gun” suppliers have ceased selling firearms and firearms components in New York, 10 months after they were sent warning letters that they could face civil fines or criminal prosecution for violating state gun laws.
“Assault weapons are illegal in New York, and the sale and/or advertisement of these products violates New York law,” Attorney General Letitia James wrote in the Sept. 23 letter. “You are directed to cease the sale and advertisement of these products to residents of New York within five days of the receipt of this notice.”
James’ letter had also targeted the sale of “receivers” that are used to make semiautomatic rifles, but did not explicitly instruct the companies — most of which operate through online sites — to cease selling kits used to make handguns.
“Ghost guns are built, marketed, and sold for one reason and one reason alone: to evade detection of dangerous weapons,” James said in a statement. “These companies were selling our state’s residents the components to build illegal assault weapons that would endanger each and every New Yorker.”
Although the attorney general’s office has pursued criminal cases against ghost gun companies and their customers in previous years, the letter to the companies was issued 10 days after the Times Union published a story highlighting how law enforcement agencies across New York had been seizing more of the guns — which are sold 80 percent finished to avoid federal regulations that do not define them as firearms until they are fully built.
According to the attorney general’s office, the 17 sites were selling unfinished lower receivers — composed of either metal or plastic — that hold the upper, lower and rear portions of a semiautomatic rifle and make it capable of firing.
“Aside from a fully assembled firearm, the lower receiver is the only piece that is independently considered a firearm and is thus subject to federal regulation,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement. “However, an incomplete lower receiver — lacking certain holes, slots, or cavities — is not considered a firearm. The companies operating these websites have specifically been marketing their lower receivers as “80 percent” complete, in order to evade federal regulations.”
Police say the untraceable firearms, including assaultstyle rifles and semiautomatic handguns, have increasingly found their way into the hands of criminals, or anyone with the minimal skills needed to assemble them.
In June, Noah Latham,
21, a 10th Mountain Division drone operator with the rank of specialist E-4, and Nathaniel Shepard, 31, of Averill Park were among four men arrested on weapons charges after an investigation that began when they were spotted at a protest in Troy, some of them carrying guns. Latham was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for having a loaded pistol that police said was a ghost gun. Latham did not have legal authority to carry a loaded handgun in public.
Thousands of kits used to build the guns are being sold annually across the nation by online mail-order companies, which exploit a loophole in federal and state gun control laws by providing “unfinished” hardware with the drill bits and instructions — including video tutorials — needed to make a fully functioning firearm.
An Arkansas company that was highlighted in the Times Union’s story last September subsequently shut down its website.
The increase in self-manufactured guns has occurred as New York’s political leaders, including U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, have focused their legislative efforts largely on strengthening background checks for firearms permits and cutting off easy access to certain assault weapons.
Federal law allows someone to make a firearm for personal use, and does not require them to obtain a serial number or to register the weapon. But New York law requires anyone in possession of certain firearms, especially handguns, to obtain a permit and have it registered.
Still, ghost guns are often obtained by individuals who are prohibited from legally possessing a firearm or seeking to use them for criminal purposes. They cannot be sold or transferred unless the person who owns them has a federal firearms license.