
Legal, untraceable gun parts are a booming industry for one Central Florida county, and it has local law enforcement concerned. (Photo: Orlando Sentinel)
The rise of so-called âghost gunâ kit manufacturers has law enforcement in Central Florida concerned.
At least six such gun-kit makers are operating in Volusia County alone. They make parts for military-style, semi-automatic rifles. The operations are legal, but the booming nature of the business has officials alarmed. One manufacturer claims to sell between 100 and 150 lower receivers a day. The lower receiver houses the trigger mechanism.
âItâs legal, but itâs almost like a loophole in the law,â Port Orange Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. âWeâre making it easy for the criminals. I have a concern, a huge concern over that.â
The gun parts donât have any serial numbers or markings, and donât require a background check, making them untraceable. The Gun Control Act of 1968 dictates that you donât need a serial number if you make a gun for your own personal use. The ghost gun makers in Florida meet ATF requirements that say a lower receiver wonât be regulated if itâs less than 80 percent complete. That way, people can finish the receiver at home, and build a legal, untraceable gun.
Law enforcement officials in Florida worry that the ghost guns will make it easy for criminals to get untraceable guns. But the process of building the weapons takes skill, and those familiar with the gun making industry say thatâs likely to keep the guns in the hands of experienced firearm owners and hobbyists, not criminals.
âThere is a possibility. But Joe Terrorist, heâs not a builder,â Jim Jusick told the Orlando Sentinel. Jusick co-owns Tactical Machining in DeLand, Florida.
Still, with 100-150 lower receivers sold per day, thatâs more than 30,000 sold a year from one shop. Some federal officials say itâs naive to think none of those will end up in the wrong hands.
In California, the ATF has seen untraceable guns show up at crime scenes, and knows of transactions of up to 50 gun parts at a time.
âWhen we look at the sales that have been going on âtheyâre selling on the Internet to people all over the country,â said Special Agent Graham Barlowe of the ATFâs field office in Sacramento. âAnd I just canât imagine that there would be an exception in Florida.