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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Recent arrests highlight the proliferation of ghost guns, which are untraceable because they do not have a serial number and can come in many forms. Officials want guns off the streets and have seen some success recently, but they said more needs to be done.
On one hand officials said they are cracking down on criminals who carry untraceable and undetectable guns. And on the other hand, law-abiding citizens – who legally carry – said they’re concerned the government has overstepped its boundaries.
“And you still have major confiscations of weapons, very dangerous threatening weapons that just occurred in the Capital Region a few days ago,” said Governor Kathy Hochul, referring to arrests made in the Pittstown State Forest on March 1. Two people were illegally target shooting with 3D printed guns.
It is illegal to 3D print guns, however federal law allows enthusiasts to build their own guns at home using gun kits. Both are either untraceable or undetectable, which has created issues for law enforcement.
“Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of that is that every gang banger in America wants a ghost gun. And we went through a period of time, things have gotten a little better, but for a while they were flooding our streets,” said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple.
30 percent of the guns the office has seized are ghost guns. Apple said getting them off the streets is a major priority.
“We work in conjunction with our federal, state, and local partners. And we hit high-crime areas and look for simple things like traffic infractions and then try to get that operator to let us search their vehicle,” said Apple.
Apple said some liken the effort to stop and frisk but there’s a need to get ghost guns off the streets.
“You know if they see somebody trying to experiment, building a gun, we’d like to be tipped off on it and go talk to them and see what are you doing? How far along is it and is it, in fact, illegal?” said Apple.
On Wednesday, the New York Attorney General’s Office announced a judgment was handed down, as a result of a major lawsuit, explicitly banning a Florida-based company from shipping ghost gun components to New York, which has been illegal in New York since 2021.
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