Officials want to keep ‘ghost guns’ out of District

WASHINGTON» The number of homicides committed in the District of Columbia with untraceable, home-built “ghost guns” has risen to four, District authorities said Friday as they proposed new legislation to prohibit kits used to make these new types of firearms.

The numbers, up from a count police had provided earlier this week, added a new sense of urgency as the District’s mayor, police chief and forensics lab director said action was necessary to stop the flow of ghost guns into the city.

District Police Chief Peter Newsham said detectives working with federal law enforcement agencies have at least two investigations in the works “where we have found some folks that are assembling these guns.”