These firearms are popular for the criminal element. They can’t be traced because they do not carry serial numbers.

Photo courtesy Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office
Homemade firearms recovered by San Jose police and Santa Clara County law enforcement from a ghost gun factory in Willow Glen.

This editorial is the opinion of Morgan Hill Life

With the wide availability of easy-to-purchase tools such as kits, jigs, and 3D printers, the proliferation of “ghost guns” in California has increased exponentially in the past decade.  Two Santa Clara County Supervisors and District Attorney Jeff Rosen seek to make such firearms illegal in the county.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen

In the past 10 years, the public has witnessed a rising crisis as an increasing number of these unregulated weapons are finding their way into the hands of criminals. Anyone, including minors and prohibited purchasers, could buy ghost guns without a background check and build them at home. The gun kits and parts are relatively cheap, opening the door to more youths possessing them.

In addition, law enforcement agencies have seen a rise of hate crimes using these untraceable firearms as well as people getting robbed and murdered. With more ghost guns on the streets, it is becoming increasingly difficult for law enforcement officers to keep Santa Clara County residents safe from violence and crimes. In 2015, four ghost guns were recovered in the county, according to D.A. Rosen. Last year, the number was 294.

California has seen the heaviest use of these weapons. In the year 2020, 65 percent of the ghost guns seized nationwide were found in the state. In 2017, a man used a homemade machine gun to shoot two security guards at a federal building in Oakland and a sheriff’s deputy in an ambush in Santa Cruz.

These homemade guns have been used in high-profile mass shootings, including in the communities of Saugus in 2019, Tehama County in 2017, and Santa Monica in 2013.

“Twelve people, including two teenagers, were killed in these shootings,” according to the website BradyUnited.org. “Dozens more were shot and injured. The Tehama and Santa Monica shooters were prohibited from purchasing firearms, and the Saugus shooter was a minor who, by virtue of his age, was not legally able to possess any firearm under California law.”

The 3-D printers use plastic materials to manufacture ghost guns, making the weapons far more dangerous because they could evade metal detectors. The guns can be made anywhere, including in wealthy neighborhoods.

In February, a Morgan Hill man and two other people were arrested for running what District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office called a “sophisticated” gun manufacturing enterprise that sold illegal firearms to criminals. Joseph Cahoon, 31, of Morgan Hill, Jack Mahon, 38, of San Jose, and Amanda Bazzani, 32, of San Jose, face jail time for allegedly running a “full-scale ghost gun factory inside an unassuming $1.6 million house” in San Jose’s upscale Willow Glen neighborhood, according to a press release from the DA.

These firearms are popular for the criminal element. They can’t be traced because they do not carry serial numbers. Criminals often purchase and sell them on the black market. They can be ordered online and assembled at home without a federal background check. That means ghost guns are completely off the grid.

President Joe Biden announced April 11 it was giving the Justice Department legal tools  to crack down on ghost guns getting into the hands of violent criminals. It will make it illegal for businesses to manufacture gun-building kits without a serial number. It will also ban a licensed gun dealer from selling the weapons without a background check. The gun lobby has claimed the rules are extreme.

A new California law coming online July 1 will make un-serialized weapons or firearm parts illegal for an individual to possess.

Locally, the DA’s Office has teamed with County Supervisors Otto Lee and Cindy Chavez to push an ordinance outlawing the possession, manufacturing and assembly of ghost guns. The Board of Supervisors will receive a report on options for the ordinance at the April 19 meeting. District Attorney Rosen believes the county’s ordinance will go farther than the state law because it will make it easier for law enforcement to track down more illegal ghost guns.

“We will do everything in our power through prevention, through laws and ordinances, police operations and prosecution to make these ghost guns disappear,” Rosen said.

Un-serialized ghost guns are a danger to public safety. They need to be well regulated to keep them out of the hands of criminals.