Crime & Safety
'Massive Arsenal' Of Ghost Guns Found In Brooklyn Man's Home: DA
Authorities found more than a dozen guns at a Bushwick home after a man bought $10,000 of the parts online, prosecutors said.
BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn man who built a "massive arsenal" of ghost guns from parts he ordered online was busted by authorities this week, according to prosecutors.
Dexter Taylor, 51, faced a 37-count indictment Friday after investigators found more than a stockpiles of ammunition and more than a dozen assault weapons, handguns and rifles at his home in Bushwick, prosecutors said.
Taylor had built the illegal ghost guns after buying more than $10,000 wroth of parts online, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said.
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“This defendant allegedly acquired a massive arsenal of homemade ghost guns that are as real and dangerous as traditional firearms," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "The surge in ghost guns in our neighborhoods is a major contributor to the violence plaguing our communities and my Office is working tirelessly to stop their proliferation in Brooklyn.”
Both federal and city officials have pointed to ghost guns as a major obstacle in curbing a nationwide spike in gun violence.
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Just this week, President Joe Biden finalized new restrictions on the homemade guns that aims to close loopholes that make them easier to purchase and harder to track.
"By assembling guns from kits, unfinished parts, or 3D printed components, those who possess ghost guns evade critically important background checks and registration requirements, and because they have no serial number they are untraceable," Gonzalez said.
In Bushwick, investigators found four completed assault weapons, five completed handguns and four completed rifles, along with dozens of "receivers," magazines and other gun-building tools in Taylor's home on Eldert Street, prosecutors said.
The Brooklyn bust is among several in New York City as law enforcement deal with a surge in the homemade weapons. Authorities seized more than 100 of the ghost guns in New York City last year alone, according to officials.
Taylor's bail was set at $50,000 and he was ordered to return to court in May.
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