San Diego issues ordinance to ban ghost weapons

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego City Council voted in favor of an ordinance that is aimed at banning all firearms that do not have a serial number or are assembled by hand and are known as “ghost weapons.”

Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert, who introduced the ordinance, said the goal is to combat the proliferation of weapons that do not have a serial number and are untraceable.

The councilors voted 8-1 on the proposal to eliminate these artifacts and from this vote in San Diego the sale of kits or parts kits to assemble some type of firearm became illegal.

In this way, this type of product cannot be sold in physical stores or online in San Diego.

According to the figures that are recorded, violence with ghost firearms has a disturbing increase in violent crimes related to gangs, since, in the first half of 2021, shootings increased by 129%, in relation to the same period of 2020.

To this data, it must be added that approximately 20% of the weapons seized in criminal acts are those that are considered as ghosts.

Phantom guns, or guns without a serial number, often end up in the hands of criminals, gang members, or others who are legally prohibited from owning guns.

Given these numbers, David Nisleit, head of the San Diego Police Department, said that since june a new labor department has been created whose task is to investigate and reduce the use of ghost weapons.

The measure passed 8-1 and that vote against was by Councilmember Chris Cate, who said there was a negative impact on gun owners who do respect the law and who require parts for their weapons.

In addition, criminals will continue to make firearms and will not take this ordinance into account, for which, it lacks any reason, he added.

Cornelius Bowser, Bishop of San Diego, said that when people search for a weapon illegally, there will always be someone who is willing to make one for them and with these kinds of limitations, the possibility of crimes being carried out is less.