INDIANAPOLIS - Just over a week has passed since the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered in New York City. Police believe a 3D-printed ghost gun was used in the killing.
Our FOX59/CBS4 team spoke with the local Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) about the presence of these types of guns in central Indiana.
“You make this [type of gun],” said John Nokes, the assistant special agent in charge with the ATF Columbus Field Division. “It has no serial numbers or identifying markers on it so it's basically an untraceable firearm.”
These untraceable firearms, often referred to as ghost guns, can typically be made in two ways either through some kind of pre-purchased firearm kit or a 3D printer.
“It is dangerous because it is a fully functioning firearm,” Nokes said. “Where it becomes a challenge for law enforcement is when these firearms are being recovered at crime scenes, they are almost untraceable because there are no serial numbers, no required markings on there.”
Ghost guns have become a lot more common in recent years. According to the ATF, ghost guns have seen a 1000% increase nationwide from 2017 to 2021. Since then, there have been more regulations put in place.
“ATF used its rule-making authority to redefine what the definition of a firearm was,” he said. “Since that time, it now requires the parts kit you can purchase before, they now have to be serialized. Also, for federal firearm licensees, if they take one of these firearms into their business, they are now required to put a serial number on these firearms. That has helped tremendously.”
But the 3D-printed guns can be a lot harder to track down.
“That’s what makes these firearms more likely for criminals to have them because they want the fact that they think they are untraceable,” Nokes said.
That’s why the ATF has started doing training sessions for law enforcement agencies at the state and local levels to help them identify them and better understand how they are manufactured and used.
“ATF has tried to be proactive since these have become a problem and we are doing training sessions for our law enforcement officers at the state and local level as well as our prosecutors to show them how easily these are manufactured and used,” Nokes said. “Some of those classes we actually set up a 3D printer behind us and we are printing firearms and machine gun conversion devices so at the conclusion of the class, we show them some of the characteristics to look for in privately made firearms and we have also shown them just how easy they are to manufacture them.”
In Indianapolis, the ATF said the bigger concern right now is the prevalence of machine gun conversion devices or Glock switches.
“[The machine gun conversion device] then takes a semi-automatic firearm that fires one round every time you pull the trigger, now it's capable of firing 30 rounds in less than two seconds,” Nokes said.
But there’s more, that machine gun conversion device can then be added to a ghost gun posing even more potential problems.
“This firearm that is now untraceable will fire 30 rounds in less than two seconds,” he said.
The ATF wants the public to keep a lookout for these types of guns and conversion devices.
“I think being aware [of them], so if you see a firearm that has clearly been manufactured by a private citizen or doesn't have a serial number, I think it's a fair question to ask, 'Why do they need a nontraceable firearm?' What’s the purpose of that? Maybe it's completely legitimate, right? But maybe it's not and I think that's the question we should all be asking when we see them out in the public,” Nokes said.