Homemade 'ghost guns' become weapons of choice of some LA gangs

A string of gang arrests took place in the greater Los Angeles area recently. Dozens of weapons were seized. That would perhaps not be much of a news if it wasn't for the fact that the guns that were seized were 'ghost guns' - homemade weapons that carry no serial numbers, were never assembled in a factory and can not be traced[1]. So essentially the gang that was taken down, or at least somewhat impeded, was effectively a business specializing in, among other things, supplying the market with weapons that were never registered in any meaningful way, that are illegal and could not possibly be known to the law enforcement at any point of their existence.

The weapons were simply assembled using components that were purchased separately. Those involved appear to be young, involved with drugs and likely poorly educated and not particularly high as far their technical expertise is concerned[2]. So the assembly process is likely not particularly involved.

The authorities claim that the rise in this phenomena is a result of it becoming harder to illegally purchase factory-made weapons in and around LA. While that may be true, I would say the decreasing cost and increasing availability of various machine tools and resulting ubiquity of products manufactured with them is also a factor. It is also reasonable to expect more and more 3D-printer weapons to enter the fray as time goes on as it has been at least 5 years since that became an option[3].

It is also high time we as a society reviewed the practicality of gun control as currently implemented. I would opine that whatever your personal opinion on the subject, if you still believe prohibitionist gun control has a chance, you are basically denying reality.

Sources

1. L.A. gangs stockpile untraceable 'ghost guns' that members make themselves
   Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2018

2. East LA gang members arrested in raids targeting homemade rifle sales in Hollywood, San Fernando Valley
   Josh Cain, Los Angeles Daily News, 6 July 2018

3. Meet The 'Liberator': Test-Firing The World's First Fully 3D-Printed Gun
   Andy Greenberg, Forbes, 5 May 2013