SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California Attorney General Rob Bonta shared the state’s first report on ghost guns and how they impact crime across the state.
Ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers that can be put together from a kit. This makes them untraceable, helping criminals get around laws keeping guns from felons.
The report from the California Department of Justice tracks ghost guns from 2013 to 2021, a time when the state observed a massive increase in recovering the weapons.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in gun crime. Bonta points the blame at ghost guns. That’s illustrated by a jump seen from 2019 to 2021, in which the state saw a nearly 600% increase in ghost gun recovery.
California also saw a more than 1,200% increase in recovery from domestic violence and abuse crimes during that time period, as well as a more than 1,000% rise from violent gun crimes.
“That data shows that the pandemic era increase in gun crime that we saw was in very large part fueled by the ghost gun industry,” Bonta said.
But since 2021, Bonta noted some positive trends in efforts to tackle ghost guns. California saw a 23% drop in ghost gun recoveries from 2021 to 2023.