Number of Ghost Guns Recovered in Baltimore More Than Triples

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - As gun violence continues to plague the City of Baltimore, an Operation: Crime & Justice investigation has uncovered a new threat to public safety.

The threat of ghost guns is a growing one that federal, state, and local lawmakers have found themselves attempting to tackle often unsuccessfully.

These are guns that are nearly impossible to trace, according to ATF Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones and U.S. District Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur.

“The access to this particular firearm allows a prohibited person a way to go on the internet, order these components, and manufacture a fully functioning firearm that is untraceable,” according to Jones. “Now we’re seeing a similar increase in the recoveries of those type of firearms in Baltimore City.”

The lack of regulation around ghost guns has created a dangerous loophole in state and federal law, one that’s allowed convicted felons in Maryland to obtain a firearm without going through a background check or the required licensing.

D.C. rapper Martrel Reeves was caught in Prince George’s County with a ghost gun.

Reeves, who was a felon prohibited from possessing a gun, is now looking at possibly serving the next ten years in federal prison.

End of year numbers offer some perspective on how serious of a problem ghost guns are beginning to become in Baltimore.

In 2019, the ATF reported the recovery of 117 ghost guns in the State of Maryland.

RELATED | DC moves to ban 'ghost guns.' And officials say it won't violate the Second Amendment.

Nearly a quarter of those 117 guns were recovered in Baltimore City, according to the Baltimore Police Department.

By December 1, 2020, City police had recovered more than three times as many ghost guns as it did during all of 2019.

A scary thought especially for those who predict the level of ghost guns will continue to grow in areas like Baltimore where there is a population of individuals prohibited from possessing a firearm.

In Washington D.C local lawmakers have successfully banned ghost gun kits.

RELATED | ATF Finding More Untraceable Guns "Ghost Guns" in Baltimore

Fox45 News asked Baltimore City Councilman and Public Safety Chairman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer about ghost guns. Schleifer said, "We should not allow for a loophole that allows convicted criminals to be illegally in possession of a firearm."

During the last legislative session, a bill was introduced that prohibited a person from manufacturing a firearm.

A review of those lawmakers who sponsored the legislation showed out of the twenty-two state lawmakers from Baltimore City only two agreed to co-sponsor the legislation that aimed to keep untraceable firearms off the street and out of the hands of criminals.