Ghost Guns Recoveries and Shootings
Untraceable DIY ghost guns are the fastest growing gun safety problem in the country. They’ve become a weapon of choice for violent criminals, including white supremacists. And because they can be obtained with no background check and no questions asked, they are undermining gun safety laws across the country. In anticipation of the ATF finalizing a new rule relating to kits and parts used to build ghost guns, it is important for the public to understand the prevalence of ghost guns in murders, shootings, and other crimes. Everytown has therefore collected examples of reported murders and shootings using ghost guns since 2013. In addition, this site collects the latest figures on ghost gun recoveries from cities across the country.
Ghost Guns Shootings
| Date | State | Locality | Description | Court Docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/25/2025 | PA | Philadelphia | 20-year-old shot and wounded 16-year-old with ghost gun. | |
| 2/14/2025 | MT | Lake County | Man shot and killed his girlfriend with a "military-style ghost gun," then ambushed a police officer. | |
| 1/25/2025 | NY | Rochester | 61-year-old man shot by man with ghost gun. | |
| 12/12/2024 | MI | Pontiac | 18 and 19-year-old brothers used ghost gun in attempted murder. | |
| 12/4/2024 | CA | Oroville | Man with an extensive criminal history in three states shot two kindergartners at their school with ghost gun sold to him by a man with his own criminal history | |
| 11/22/2024 | CA | Merced County | 2-year-old unintentionally shot and killed herself with unsecured ghost gun. | |
| 9/18/2024 | MN | Chaska | 16-year-old unintentionally shot by his friend with a Polymer80 ghost pistol with a binary trigger. | |
| 7/21/2024 | CO | Fort Collins | Police and a man under the influence exchanged fire after a car crash. One officer was wounded and the man, who wielded an unserialized AR-style firearm and pistol, was killed. | |
| 7/7/2024 | MN | Minneapolis | Shooter fired ghost gun from a car, killing a teen. | |
| 6/29/2024 | OR | Klamath Falls | 20-year-old shot and killed two teenage sisters with ghost gun made from part she ordered online. |
Ghost Guns Recoveries
| Year | City | State | Ghost Gun Recoveries Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Statewide and by County | CA | On October 1, 2024, the California Department of Justice released statitics on ghost gun recoveries by county for 2013 through 2023, and statewide recoveries by year: 3 in 2013; 11 in 2014; 48 in 2015; 174 in 2016; 326 in 2017; 687 in 2018; 1,572 in 2019; 5,490 in 2020; 10,877 in 2021; 10,098 in 2022; and 8,340 in 2023. |
| 2024 | Baltimore | MD | Halfway through 2024, Baltimore police had recovered 169 ghost guns. |
| 2023-2024 | Prince George's County | MD | 115 ghost guns were recovered in 2023; as of June 5, 2024, that number was 86 on the year. |
| 2023 | Rochester | NY | Rochester Police recovered 86 ghost guns in 2023. |
| 2023 | Boston | MA | Ghost guns represented 10% of the firearms recovered by Boston Police in 2023, 304 in total. |
| 2023 | Poughkeepsie | NY | Police recovered 45 illegal handguns in 2023, 25% of those being ghost guns. |
| 2023 | Berkley | CA | In 2023, the Berkeley Police Department recovered 19 ghost guns, down from 43 in 2022 and 34 in 2021. |
| 2023 | Los Angeles | CA | In 2023, 1,232 ghost guns were recovered by the Los Angeles Police Department, a 28% decrease compared to 2022, where 1,706 ghost guns were recovered |
| 2023 | Springfield | MA | Springfield Police spokesperson Ryan Walsh noted that Wednesday’s seizure was the 40th illegal firearm seizure and 13th ‘ghost gun’ recovered in Springfield so far in 2023. |
| 2023 | Troy | NY | 13 unserialized, privately made ghost guns were confiscated in 2023. |
Learn More:
Everytown Research & Policy is a program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to understanding and reducing gun violence. Everytown Research & Policy works to do so by conducting methodologically rigorous research, supporting evidence-based policies, and communicating this knowledge to the American public.
