Posted on 08/17/2019 12:06:03 PM PDT by L.A.Justice
RIVERSIDE, Calif. The firearm used in the deadly Riverside, California, shootout was an untraceable AR-15-type weapon assembled from separately acquired parts, commonly known as a ghost gun, a law enforcement source told CNN on Thursday.
Ghost guns are firearms manufactured without serial numbers, making them difficult for law enforcement authorities to trace, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Gun parts can be ordered online and assembled at home, the ATF said.
Riverside Police only describe the firearm as a possible semi-automatic rifle, spokesman Ryan Railsback told CNN. It has not been sent out to the crime lab yet for evidence collection or ballistics testing, and has not been evaluated by the California Department of Justice or ATF for retracing (its) history.
Authorities say Aaron Luther killed California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Moye and wounded two others in Mondays shootout in Riverside. Luther, an ex-convict, was shot during the exchange of fire and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Moye was shot after pulling over a vehicle near I-215 and Eastridge Avenue. He managed to put out a call for help, which brought officers from CHP, Riverside Police and the Riverside County Sheriffs Department to the scene, who exchanged gunfire with the suspect.
Moye served as a CHP officer for nearly three years and was assigned to Riverside after graduating from the CHP Academy in 2017, a release from California Gov. Gavin Newsoms office said. Moye is survived by his wife, parents, and siblings, the release said.
It is not known whether any parts of Luthers gun had specific manufacturer markings, according to CNNs source.
Los Angeles has seen an increase in the number of ghost guns, the LAPD said in a statement released in 2018. Detectives often recover ghost guns, particularly in the form of semi-automatic 9mm pistols, at various scenes of criminal activity, according to the LAPD.
Ghost guns are particularly useful to individuals who are banned by police from owning traditionally purchased guns, allowing owners to sidestep the legal system requiring gun registration, according to a Utah State University paper published earlier this year.
Its not known how many ghost guns are in the US today, though one regional ATF office in California obtained 250 ghost guns in 2017 alone, the paper noted.
check out polymer80. a good number or my company’s products ship to Cali. we make glock enhancements, slides, triggers, mag wells. I’m pretty sure we aren’t servicing just hobbyists. polymer80s sell all day on the internet, no background check required, and I found them them to be a piece of cake to build (25 year machinist).
80% machined lower receiver is not considered a fire arm under federal law and requires no FFL. It can be bought like chunk of metal in most states with no ID.
It only takes a drill press and basic hand tools to bring it up to 100%.
The question becomes: at exactly what point does a piece of steel become a firearm?
For those unfamiliar with 80% lowers, you have to do quite a bit of machining and finish work to complete the lower. That requires a kit of jigs, router bits and drill bits. A drill press, vice and router are the regular shop tools needed. It also requires patience and some metalworking skills. Take a look at youtube for videos.
The geezer that attacked an ICE facility in WA had a ghost gun.
AK receiver flats, as well.
The totalitarian governments simply make it illegal to have any part of a firearm without a license, and make it illegal to make a firearm without a license.
The Second Amendment should preclude that here in the United States.
Only four states and the District of Columbia have gun registration.
There is no such thing as a Federal registry for guns.
Then there’s the Philippine shotgun.
This is ideal imo.
Ghost 9mm guns do not exist, as far as I know. You can have a stolen 9mm or a 9mm with the numbers filed off. But I don’t think anybody is producing 9mm guns without serial numbers privately, which is what a ghost gun is.
As far as AR-15s are concerned, it is relatively easy to manufacture a lower receiver from a billet blank or an 80% kit, and produce a lower without a serial number. This can then be combined with various other non-serialized parts to construct a ghost gun.
I think it is illegal to even have one of these in California. In other areas, you can have one on your property, but are not permitted to take it off your property for any reason.
VERY TRUE. = I attended an “AK building party” in 1995 in VA where over 200 “AK clones” of various sorts were built from flats & assorted parts.
(SOME builders serial-numbered their creation & some did NOT, as VA law doesn’t require serial numbers on “homemade firearms”. - I serial numbered my “AK clone” & registered it at our PMO, as a non-serial numbered firearm is ILLEGAL to possess on US military posts.)
Mine started out as a parts kit for a Hungarian “paratrooper” AK carbine with a “demilled” 14” barrel.
(We cut what was left of the the barrel into two pieces with a torch, as it was illegal to assemble into a rifle & installed a NEW barrel on the receiver. - Frankly I see NO good use for an AK “pistol”. = Just too big/clunky for my taste.)
ONE good thing about a “built it myself forearm” is that you can get exactly the firearm that you want. = “my sort of an AK” has a LONGER butt-stock than is standard on any real AK.
Yours, TMN78247
FACT: So-called ‘Ghost guns” are 100% LEGAL as long as you make them for your OWN USE. No serial numbers are required on legal home-made guns. They just can’t be Class III unless you have FIRST gotten a Federal permit for them.
You know you can buy unserialized lowers that need a minimum of 20% completion by the buyer before they are functional, right? I assume you know you can legally manufacture certain firearms for your own use.
https://www.80-lower.com/products/80-lower-fire-safe-marked-1-pack/
Btw, I’m “thinking on” building another “junk-box AK clone” from a “receiver flat”, with a 16.5” barrel & folding stock, as a “truck gun”.
IF/WHEN I build it, it will be painted with APPLIANCE PAINT & in “semi-gloss” black. = Appliance paint or auto exhaust paint is the TOUGHEST finish that I’ve yet found for firearms, as after either paint cures fully it’s difficult to get off with sandpaper.
Yours, TMN78247
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Sounds like the AMD-65 kit. A shame about the barrel. I think they’re legal if you weld on an extension. Did it have that ugly folding crutch stock, too? Not the prettiest AK variant.
Not true.
California now requires you to apply for, and obtain, a serial number before you can manufacture a gun on your own. Probably unconstitutional.
The federal law is you have the right to make a gun for your own use.
You cannot make them for commercial sale.
The latest interpretation that I know of, is after a year of ownership, they may be sold like other personal possessions.
Some claim you have to put a serial number on them.
Probably a good idea, as lack of a serial number draws attention.
But a serial number on a privately made firearm, without government registration as in California, is pretty meaningless.
Almost no crimes are solved by tracing serial numbers and I guarantee that no crime has ever been prevented because of a serial number.
Wow, the police can ban people from owning guns?
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