California ATF Says ‘Ghost Guns’ Are A Threat — Some Experts Disagree

Firearms are pictured in an exhibit hall at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center during the NRA's annual convention in Dallas, Texas on May 6, 2018. Loren Elliott/AFP/Getty Images

California has a “ghost gun” problem, the Los Angeles Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) says. A spokesperson for the ATF field division told The Trace and NBC that 30 percent of recovered firearms are homemade and untraceable.

However, many Second Amendment attorneys, firearm experts, and pro-gun rights advocates think concerns are overblown. Worse than a threat coming from illegally-made guns, they say, the Golden State may have put the lives of its citizens in danger due to restrictions on firearms.