Schumer: ‘Ridiculously easy’ to curb Syracuse’s spike in untraceable ‘ghost guns’ (List of crimes)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The shooting of a 6-year-old Syracuse boy by his uncle is gaining national attention in the fight against so-called “ghost guns.”

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-NY, cited the near-fatal shooting of little Miguel Everson in his call Monday for federal officials to crack down on the troubling trend of untraceable guns, assembled from legally obtained parts.

Everson’s uncle, Miguel Russo, had such a gun -- built on the black market -- when he inexplicably shot his namesake nephew in the back Dec. 3 inside a Syracuse residence. The uncle was shot and killed by police; the young boy survived.

That shooting isn’t an isolated case: Onondaga County has seen the biggest spike across the state in “ghost guns” in the past couple of years, Schumer said during a news conference Monday morning with DA William Fitzpatrick.

There have been 33 such ghost guns confiscated since 2016 in the county. That includes 23 guns in 2019 alone, according to the DA’s office. Once assembled, the guns are considered illegal under state law.

Schumer said the solution is simple: The feds need to update their decades-old definition of a firearm to include the key parts of the weapon, not simply the finished gun.

That would help prevent, he said, the sale of untraceable gun parts, because those parts would need be registered and buyers would have to undergo background checks to buy them.

“It can just happen with the stroke of a pen," he said, calling the fix “just ridiculously easy.”

No new laws would have to be passed: it would simply be up to the federal Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to change their interpretation of existing law.

Without such a fix, convicted felons -- who have no right to possess a gun -- or the mentally ill can legally obtain everything needed to make a gun, despite laws barring them from possessing one, Schumer said. Even worse, there’s no way for police to trace where a gun was purchased and who owns it.

Fitzpatrick has been warning of ghost guns -- or “Frankenstein guns,” as he calls them -- for several months now. He publicly applauded Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vow to crackdown on such guns.

But the solution has to come on a federal level, Schumer said Monday. That’s because most of the gun parts are moving across state lines.

So how does this easy fix work?

The justice department and ATF have long defined only the finished product as a firearm, for the purposes of federal law. By changing that definition to include “frames” and “receivers,” the feds would require all the appropriate checks on two vital parts of a finished gun, Schumer said. In other words, someone couldn’t buy two necessary parts of a gun without being vetted as though he or she were buying a finished product.

“This would help ensure that only law abiding citizens have access to potentially dangerous weapons and that Central New York law enforcement is able to track these weapons and keep our communities safe,” Schumer said in a news release.

Schumer also called on federal authorities share information on ghost guns with local law enforcement.

List of crimes, shootings linked to ghost guns

Fitzpatrick released details on incidents involving 21 ghost guns in Onondaga County (generally in reverse chronological order):

• Jan 16, 2020: A 9mm semiautomatic pistol was recovered with 4-plus ounces of cocaine, $4,200 cash and drug paraphernalia.
• Dec. 23, 2019: A 9mm semiautomatic pistol was used to injure a pregnant mother.
• Dec. 3, 2019: A .40 caliber automatic pistol was used to shoot a 6-year-old boy (the Miguel Everson case).
• Dec. 19, 2018: The same gun as above was also used in an attempted murder, in which the suspect fired three times into a crowded bar, hitting the victim three times.
• Nov, 4, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered with 300 doses of heroin, cash and drug paraphernalia during drug search.
• Oct. 27, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from gun battle, in which injured victim used it to return fire.
• May 26, 2019: Same gun as above used in shots fired on Kellogg Street; no injurie
• July 3, 2019: Same gun as above fired 17 times outside Parkside Commons apartments on East Fayette Street; no injuries.
• Oct. 16, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered during search by probation department.
• Sept, 25, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol and three unfinished semiautomatic rifles recovered during marijuana growing investigation.
• Aug. 25, 2019: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol left by anonymous citizen for police to recover. Not used in other crimes.
• Undated in 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered during investigation into drug overdose. Warrants recovered gun, 1 kilogram of fentanyl, plus more heroin, fentanyl and cocaine.
• Undated in 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from a 16-year-old boy during a shots fired investigation.
• April 13, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from vehicle in village of Liverpool.
• April 7, 2019: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol recovered after eight shots fired on Lincoln Avenue.
• April 1, 2019: Same gun as above used in a different shooting, in which a woman -- not the intended target -- was struck in the arm.
• Undated in 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from man who robbed drug dealers. Also found were six other weapons and high capacity magazines, as well as cocaine and $75,000.
• Jan. 7, 2019: Semiautomatic rifle found during investigation of domestic incident in town of Manlius. Also recovered five high-capacity magazines. Gun not used in other crimes.
• Undated in 2018: 9mm semiautomatic pistol possessed by homicide suspect (but not the murder weapon).
• Oct. 21, 2018: .223 semiautomatic rifle (also capable of firing fully automatic) recovered during investigation into home-invasion robbery. Found hidden with stolen property.
• Oct. 19, 2018: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol found during traffic stop on Putnam Street.
• Sept. 23, 2018: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol recovered during drug and shots fired investigation.
• Aug. 5, 2018: Same gun as above used in 9 shots fired on Fitch Street.\
• Aug. 22, 2018: Same gun as above used in 11 shots fired on Sabine Street
• Aug. 24, 2018: Same gun as above used in 12 shots fired on Merriman Avenue.
• Sept, 9, 2018: Same gun as above used in 14 shots fired on Putnam Street.
• Sept, 15, 2018: Same gun as above used in 17 shots fired on Merriman Avenue.
• Undated in 2018: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered in the town of Camillus. Man accidentally shot himself while disassembling weapon.
• Aug. 9, 2018: 9mm semiautomatic handgun found in the possession of a robbery suspect, as well as 17 rounds in the magazine.
• July 22, 2018: 40 caliber semiautomatic handgun (also capable of firing fully automatic) recovered during a vehicle search stemming from a drug investigation. Another handgun was also found in vehicle.

Schumer said restrictions on gun parts could happen within a couple of months if federal agencies acted quickly.

The senator’s staff told reporters that Schumer would not be taking questions about other topics during his stop at the DA’s office.

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