This is America you don't know: those untraceable "ghost guns"

Original title: This is the United States you don't know: those untraceable "ghost guns"
[original title] America 7 you don't know: untraceable "ghost gun"
40000, which is the number of people killed by shooting in the United States every year. In 2021, not surprisingly, according to the statistics of the American non-profit organization "gun violence archives" (GVA), as of November 27 local time, gun violence had killed 40600 people. In other words, more than 100 people in the United States die from shooting every day.

Distribution of people killed by shooting in the United States in 2021 (source: GVA)
What's more terrible is that people can even escape supervision and buy these deadly "tools", among which there are many serious criminals, domestic violence bound by protection orders, mentally ill patients and children
No such gun found
On June 7, 2013, the shooting at Santa Monica College in California brought the concept of "ghost gun" into the American public's vision. According to US media reports, the 23-year-old perpetrator Zawahri tried to buy weapons in 2011, but for unknown reasons, he was identified as "not qualified to buy". Finally, Zawahri bought gun parts from all over the country and shot them with his self-assembled semi-automatic rifle, which eventually killed five people.
This kind of gun made by individuals without the permission of the federal government is called "ghost gun". It can be easily assembled by purchasing parts online. It is also named because it cannot be traced by the government. The existence of "ghost gun" has created a large number of loopholes in gun regulation, which undoubtedly worsens the United States with the proliferation of gun violence.

What does it mean to be untraceable? Usually, after a shooting, the police will send a tracking request to the U.S. alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives Administration (ATF) based on the guns found at the scene. ATF helps the police solve the case by tracking its sales path through gun serial number or other marks.
But the ghost gun can't be traced. According to the U.S. Department of justice, from 2016 to 2020, law enforcement departments recovered more than 23000 "ghost guns" from potential crime scenes, including 325 homicide and attempted cases. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Website selling "ghost gun" (source: everytown for gun safety)
The staff of ATF Los Angeles branch interviewed by ABC said that almost half (about 41%) of the cases in 2020 involved "ghost guns".
Crisis latent
It is understood that it is very simple to convert the kit into a usable gun. Moreover, since these scattered parts are not subject to the legal supervision of the federal government, buyers do not need to accept background investigation. Therefore, a large number of businesses even sell them "blatantly" in the market. Therefore, the US government is not sure how many similar firearms are circulating among the people.

3D printing gun data map
In addition, 3D printing technology also gives criminals an opportunity. This gun part made of polymer can not be detected by metal detector or X-ray machine, so it is more difficult to supervise whether it is purchased or sold.
A report of the gun control organization "bring gun safety to every town" shows that the cost of the "ghost gun" assembly kit is not high, and a seller claims that the assembly kit of guns is "one of the simplest processes so far". A person who has no gun manufacturing experience only needs a few tools, It can be completed in less than an hour. According to statistics, the top five teaching videos of "ghost gun" produced on foreign video website YouTube have been broadcast more than 3 million times.
At the same time, the market scale of selling "ghost gun" kits also increased from 26 online retailers in 2014 to about 80 last year.
US police said that this "ghost gun", which is easy to make and difficult to supervise, is becoming a "lethal weapon" for those who are prohibited by law from buying guns.