Loaded ‘Ghost Gun’ Seized In South Bay Traffic Stop

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – A loaded, unserialized “ghost gun” was seized during a traffic stop, a San José Police Department administrator said Sunday.

SJPD’s Violent Crime Enforcement Team seized the untraceable weapon from a motorist who they pulled for multiple traffic infractions, Assistant Chief Paul Joseph tweeted.

"Ghost guns" are manufactured privately, often using D.I.Y. kits sold online with no serial numbers. They are sold without background checks and are untraceable, The New York Times reports.

Gun-control advocates attribute the proliferation of the unserialized weapons to outdated laws that enable dealers to skirt regulations, USA Today reports.

"Ghost gun companies have been exploiting the way that the federal government defines 'firearms' to argue that the products they’re selling aren’t guns and avoid complying with regulations like background checks and tracing requirements," David Pucino, a senior attorney at Giffords, a gun violence prevention group, told the publication.

The growth of unserialized weapons has public safety advocates alarmed.

"You have untraceable, unserialized firearms that exist completely outside of the regulatory scheme of federal and state law," Nick Suplina, managing director for law and policy at gun violence group Everytown, told the publication.

"People who are prohibited from owning firearms under federal or state law have ready access to make their own untraceable firearms, and that's very dangerous."

Approximately 10,000 unserialized firearms were seized in 2019, The New York Times reports.

“Another car stop, another ghost gun,” the SJPD’s Media Relations tweeted.