Loading articles...

‘Ghost guns’ are untraceable, easy to make, more prevalent

FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2018, file photo, Cody Wilson, with Defense Distributed, holds a 3D-printed gun called the Liberator at his shop, in Austin, Texas. For a few hundred dollars, tools and some elbow grease, you can make your very own rifle or handgun. It’s all perfectly legal _ and it can be done without leaving anything behind for the government to trace. These so-called “ghost guns” have long been popular among hobbyists or gun enthusiasts. But gun-control advocates say they are increasingly popping up in crimes, used by people who are prohibited from buying a firearm and are trying to circumvent a background check. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

It’s relatively easy and perfectly legal to make your own firearm. It can cost just a few hundred dollars to get the necessary parts and then just a bit of elbow grease to assemble it.

And it can be done without leaving anything behind for the government to trace.

These “ghost guns” have long been popular among hobbyists or gun enthusiasts. But gun control advocates say they are increasingly popping up in crimes, used by people who are prohibited from buying a firearm and are trying to circumvent a background check.

Authorities say a teenager fatally shot two classmates and wounded three others with a homemade handgun just last week in suburban Los Angeles.

Gun rights activists say they have a constitutional right to make a firearm without the government knowing about it.

Lisa Marie Pane, The Associated Press