Since monitoring started in 2019, Boston has seen a 280% enhance within the variety of so-called “ghost guns” recovered through the course of legal investigations, reflecting a nationwide development highlighted by President Biden final week.
“Since statistics have been tracked, the numbers have been going up. All firearms are a concern for the department, but these are all connected to criminal cases,” officer Andrew Watson, a Boston Police spokesperson, instructed the Herald.
In 2019, the town recovered 15 unserialized or home made weapons, Watson mentioned. The subsequent yr it was 23. Last yr the quantity jumped to 58. So far in 2022 there have been 16 recovered, he mentioned, which means the division is on monitor for one more yr with dozens of such firearms confiscated.
This isn’t only a Boston or perhaps a Massachusetts downside, based on Norwood Police Chief William Brooks.
“So-called ghost guns, or in law enforcement known as unserialized firearms or privately made firearms, have been growing in popularity,” Brooks mentioned in an emailed assertion.
Brooks, a board member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the previous president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, was in Washington, D.C., final week when Biden introduced his administration would crack down on the proliferation of unserialized firearms with new laws.
“Last year alone, there were approximately 20,000 suspected ghost guns reported to ATF as having been recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations — a ten-fold increase from 2016,” the Biden administration mentioned in a launch.
Brooks mentioned the issue isn’t authorized gun house owners — and even home made firearms — however the means for criminals to simply come into possession of them.
“Obviously, those bought and assembled by hobbyists or firearm enthusiasts are not the problem. The problem is that people who are not permitted by law to possess firearms can purchase unserialized parts online and assemble a firearm, or can make the parts that would have been serialized using a 3D printer,” Brooks mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police mentioned the division doesn’t monitor so-called ghost weapons however has been recovering increasingly more of them as they develop into extra broadly out there.
In July of 2019, State Police arrested a Springfield man with a gun they mentioned was manufactured illegally. In February of 2021, troopers in Boston discovered one other after an unlawful window tint cease. The subsequent month, staties arrested a Randolph man with two — one was silenced. In April of 2021, a person was arrested in Lawrence with one other, State Police mentioned.
In July of 2021, a Lowell man was discovered with two such weapons and a 3rd with an obliterated serial quantity, State Police mentioned. In August of 2021, staties stopped a Springfield man in Chicopee and 4 home made weapons — and the elements for a fifth — had been discovered. This February, a Worcester man was discovered with two throughout a drug bust, police mentioned.
Jim Wallace, govt director of the Gun Owners’ Action League, mentioned that the transfer to crack down on ghost weapons is nothing greater than the politics of panic.
“They get the public so upset about serial number — but those don’t mean anything. Mass. has been registering handguns for 100 years — how many crimes have been solved with that database of serial numbers? They have the public so scared of something that is meaningless actually,” Wallace mentioned.
“The problem is when the gun is in the hands of a criminal, not that it’s a ‘ghost gun.’ They made up a term to get the public scared about something that’s not a problem,” he mentioned.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”