Manhattan DA pushes for tougher penalties to fight ghost guns in New York City
MANHATTAN (WABC) -- Ghost guns have been an ongoing safety concern in New York City. The untraceable firearms, often made at home or with 3D printers, can bypass background checks and lack serial numbers.
On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the weapons are increasingly showing up in crimes across the city and he is pushing for tougher laws.
"It's here, were seeing it, we've moved from the 'iron pipeline' to the 'kitchen table pipeline,'" said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Bragg's office said it is time to make printing ghost guns and gun parts a felony and a class A misdemeanor to share CAD files with blueprints.
"With recoveries having risen from a few dozen just several years ago, to now several hundred every single year," said Assistant DA David Stuart. "Now we see them used in shootings and homicides across the city."
That includes the homicide allegedly committed by Luigi Mangione in 2024 with a ghost gun and silencer that police say was made mostly of 3D-printed parts.
And just about a year ago, Christopher Fox pleaded guilty to possessing 3D-printed items.
"This assault weapon in particular was almost entirely 3D-printed and is a popular version of the fgc-9 design, which can be built using the CAD files shared over the internet," Stuart said.
Officials say they have had some success reaching out to the 3D printing industry directly. Several have voluntarily started blocking gun building technology and DIY online videos.
"We called on YouTube to change its algorithm, it's doing that," Bragg said.
But the public safety threat is nationwide.
"The data we collected from 20 cities showed a 1,000% increase over the last five years in 3D gun recoveries at crimes," said Justin Wagner with Everytown for Gun Violence.
Bragg says swift and strong legislation is needed.
"You can't print counterfeit money, like we don't let you do that, so why would we let you print lethal guns, which is that basic and that simple?" Bragg said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul originated the bill establishing criminal penalties for manufacturing 3D-printed firearms, and she's now included it in the New York State budget, which could be passed as soon as this week.
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