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  • [GUN CLICKS]

  • This is a gun I made myself.

  • The government doesn't know I have it,

  • but it's totally legal.

  • You can buy a kit online with all the parts

  • you need to build a Glock 19.

  • You don't need a 3-D printer or fancy tools,

  • and you don't need a background check.

  • I purchased the Glock 19 during Glocktober,

  • so I got $100 off.

  • People call these ghost guns.

  • And they're becoming more popular,

  • especially for people who want a gun,

  • but don't want any record that it exists.

  • I'd like to see how easy it is to build one of these guns

  • and to find out what these kits mean

  • for the future of gun regulation.

  • Order is confirmed.

  • All that's left to do is build it.

  • I don't have a handgun license in New York,

  • so I sent the kit to Virginia, where you don't need one.

  • Let's make a gun.

  • I get the appeal of making a gun.

  • I like building stuff.

  • And for a lot of people who buy these kits,

  • that's the point.

  • They're fun to make.

  • "Hey, guys.

  • Today we're going to be going over how

  • to build your Full Conceal Polymer80 frame.

  • So it's actually fairly quick to do this."

  • "Kind of paint by numbers in a sense."

  • The lower receiver or frame is the only part

  • of the gun that's technically considered a firearm under U.S.

  • law.

  • Gun kits aren't regulated like firearms

  • because they come with unfinished lower receivers.

  • "So this is the lower receiver,

  • and it's in this jig.

  • So what we'll need to do is remove

  • the extra pieces that are sticking up out of the jig."

  • [SNAPPING]

  • Yeah,

  • instead of shop, I took early childhood development.

  • It was actually really awesome.

  • The finished lower receiver looks

  • almost identical to the unfinished one.

  • You just drill a few holes and remove

  • these extra bits of polymer.

  • Then you assemble and add the rest of the parts.

  • If you do it right, you'll have a working firearm.

  • On a factory-made gun, the serial number would go here.

  • But the gun I'm building won't have one,

  • so there's no way to trace it.

  • Gun kits aren't regulated at all in most states.

  • There are no records of sales.

  • And for a lot of people, that's the appeal.

  • "Hey."

  • "Hey."

  • "Andy Lander."

  • "Jeremy White."

  • Andy Lander is a firearms expert who worked for the N.R.A.

  • for 13 years.

  • He's built guns before.

  • "We're still technically a free country.

  • And I think that one of the greatest freedoms

  • is having privacy.

  • To me, if you bought 100 guns, it's none of my business."

  • It's impossible to say how many ghost guns are out there

  • or who owns them.

  • Last year, nearly a third of all firearms

  • seized by law enforcement in California

  • were homemade without serial numbers.

  • Still, Andy says the kits aren't the problem.

  • "A criminal is going to steal a gun.

  • He's going to either rob somebody and get a gun.

  • He's going to get a gun anyway.

  • I'm not worried about a guy building a Glock

  • 19 in his garage."

  • "Nope.

  • Drop it in from the top."

  • "Drop it in."

  • "Straight down."

  • "Oh, it has to be all the way —"

  • "You have to clear that, yeah.

  • Push down till it pops.

  • Yeah, that's it."

  • [GUN CLICKS]

  • "There you go.

  • You're done."

  • "Wow.

  • Thanks for your help."

  • [GUN CLICKS]

  • It took me about six hours to build my ghost gun.

  • [GUN CLICKS]

  • If I had to do it again, I could do it much faster.

  • Still, there's no guarantee that it will work.

  • "Scot Thomasson."

  • "Jeremy White."

  • "Nice to meet you."

  • "Good to meet you."

  • "How are you?"

  • "Good."

  • "Good.

  • It's the same damn gun."

  • "Really is."

  • "The difference is right there, serial number.

  • And that's important."

  • Scot Thomasson is a retired A.T.F. agent.

  • He's letting me try out my new gun on his property.

  • "Looks O.K. Looks like it's not

  • going to blow up anybody's hand,

  • so that's a good thing."

  • "Let's go test it out."

  • [GUN CLICKS]

  • [GUN FIRES]

  • "Hit."

  • [GUN FIRES]

  • "Hit."

  • [GUN FIRES]

  • "O.K."

  • "That's a working gun."

  • "Yeah, sure enough is.

  • Listen, I worked violent crime my whole career for 26 years.

  • You want those officers to have every means possible

  • bringing to justice those who use that firearm to commit

  • acts of violence.

  • And without a serial number on that firearm,

  • you can't do it."

  • "So if these kits had a serial number

  • and were sold through licensed dealers,

  • do you see any problem with that?"

  • "No problem whatsoever.

  • So what?"

  • "Right now we really don't know what we don't know,

  • because these guns are completely untraceable."

  • Jennifer Wexton is a representative

  • from Virginia's 10th district and a co-sponsor on two bills

  • that would broaden the definition of firearms

  • to include assembly kits. so you couldn't buy them

  • without the government knowing.

  • "Normally the serial number would be here."

  • "No.

  • And look, there's nothing there."

  • "There's nothing there."

  • "Yeah.

  • That's part of the allure of these kinds of ghost guns,

  • by the way.

  • So when they're picked up in crime scenes and things

  • like that, we know that they are out there.

  • And we're seeing it happen more and more."

  • "What do you say to the Second Amendment advocate that

  • says, these laws are an invasion of my privacy

  • when it comes to gun ownership?"

  • "I think that guns should be traceable.

  • So I think that weighing the interest

  • in not having a serial number on your firearm

  • versus the overall public safety,

  • I come down on the side of public safety."

  • In the end, the government does find out

  • about my ghost gun.

  • Without a handgun license, I can't bring this gun

  • back to New York, so I'm turning it

  • in to the local police.

  • They interview me, do a background check

  • and file a police report.

  • That's a lot more screening than I went through

  • to get the gun in the first place.

  • For most people, this isn't the easiest way to get a gun.

  • It takes time and skill.

  • Some people may like that challenge.

  • Most people would rather just buy one

  • from a gun shop or a licensed dealer.

  • But if you're a felon, or underage,

  • or you can't legally buy a gun for some other reason,

  • these kits make it remarkably easy to get one anyway.

[GUN CLICKS]

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