'Ghost gun' companies shut down in New York - Times Union

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ALBANY — The state attorney general's office said that 17 online "ghost gun" companies have ceased selling firearms and firearms components in New York, ten months after they were sent warning letters that they could face civil fines or criminal prosecution for violating state gun laws.

"Assault weapons are illegal in New York, and the sale and/or advertisement of these products violates New York law," Attorney General Letitia James wrote in the Sept. 23 letter. "You are directed to cease the sale and advertisement of these products to residents of New York within five days of the receipt of this notice."

James' letter had also targeted the sale of "receivers" that are used to make semi-automatic rifles, but did not explicitly instruct the companies — most of which operate through online websites — to cease selling kits used to make handguns.

"Ghost guns are built, marketed, and sold for one reason and one reason alone — to evade detection of dangerous weapons," James said in a statement. "These companies were selling our state’s residents the components to build illegal assault weapons that would endanger each and every New Yorker."

Previously: What is a ghost gun and are they legal?

Although the attorney general's office has pursued criminal cases against ghost gun companies and recipients in prior years, the letter to the companies was issued 10 days after the Times Union published a story highlighting how law enforcement agencies across New York had been seizing more of the guns — which are sold 80 percent finished to avoid federal regulations that do not define them as firearms until they are fully built.

According to the attorney general's office, the 17 sites were selling unfinished lower receivers — composed of either metal or plastic — which hold the upper, lower and rear portions of a semiautomatic rifle make it capable of firing.

"Aside from a fully assembled firearm, the lower receiver is the only piece that is independently considered a firearm and is thus subject to federal regulation," the attorney general's office said in a statement. "However, an incomplete lower receiver — lacking certain holes, slots, or cavities — is not considered a firearm. The companies operating these websites have specifically been marketing their lower receivers as “80%” complete, in order to evade federal regulations."

They untraceable firearms, including assault-style rifles and semiautomatic handguns, and police said they have increasingly been finding their way into the hands of criminals, or anyone with the minimal skills needed to assemble them.

In June, Noah Latham, 21, a 10th Mountain Division drone operator with the rank of specialist E-4, and Nathaniel Shepard, 31, of Averill Park, were among four men arrested on weapons charges after an investigation that began when they were spotted at a protest in Troy, some of them carrying guns.

Latham was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for having a loaded pistol that police said was a ghost gun. Latham did not have legal authority to carry a loaded handgun in public.

Thousands of kits used to build the guns are being sold annually across the nation by online mail-order companies, which exploit a loophole in federal and state gun control laws by providing "unfinished" hardware with the drill bits and instructions — including video tutorials — needed to make a fully functioning firearm.

An Arkansas company that was highlighted in the Times Union's story last September subsequently shut down its website.

What is a ghost gun, and it is legal?

The increase in self-manufactured guns has taken place as New York's political leaders, including U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, have focused their legislative efforts largely on strengthening background checks for firearms permits and cutting off easy access to certain assault weapons.

Two years ago in the Syracuse area, police agencies seized 15 ghost guns in six months — including 10 semiautomatic handguns, three semiautomatic rifles, and an illegally modified fully automatic rifle. Last year, those agencies have recovered an additional six ghost guns, five of which were semiautomatic handguns, according to data provided by the Onondaga County district attorney's office.

They have been dubbed ghost guns because the self-manufactured weapons have no serial numbers and are unregistered. Their owners often lack the proper state permits or have not undergone the federal background check needed to legally possess them. And in many instances, they are being illegally resold to convicted felons.

In February 2019, State Police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) charged 38-year-old Gregg Marinelli of Ulster County, who was a police sergeant for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, with illegally manufacturing dozens of handguns and assault rifles, including one fully automatic rifle.

Police said many of the firearms made by Marinelli were ghost guns, which he had sold to members of "outlaw motorcycle groups" and convicted felons — sometimes delivering the guns in his marked police car.

Despite the proliferation of the underground firearms, there is still confusion among some law enforcement officials who may wrongly believe the term "ghost guns" refer only to the high-tech plastic firearms that can be produced using expensive 3D printers. Those firearms, which are undetectable by standard security screening devices, are rarely encountered by law enforcement despite swift action from New York lawmakers last year to outlaw them.

State Police and many other law enforcement agencies told the Times Union last year they had not seized or encountered so-called 3D guns in criminal investigations.

Separate legislation that would have banned the more prevalent practice of online sales of the self-manufactured firearms was quietly shelved by state lawmakers in May 2019, and did not reach the floor of the Senate or Assembly for a vote. That legislation had specifically targeted the type of firearms being sold by the online retailers.

Federal law allows someone to make a firearm for personal use and does not require them to obtain a serial number or to register the weapon. But New York laws require anyone in possession of certain firearms, especially handguns, to obtain a permit and register the gun.

Still, ghost guns are often obtained by individuals who are prohibited from legally possessing a firearm or seeking to use them for criminal purposes. They cannot be sold or transferred unless the person who owns them has a federal firearms license.

The online companies manufacturing the gun kits market them as "80 percent finished," which puts them just below the definition of a firearm under the federal Gun Control Act of 1968. That loophole has led law enforcement officials to dub those firearms "80 percenters."

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