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https://www.ammoland.com/2023/10/nys-crusade-against-homemade-guns-backfires-unintentional-masterclass-ghost-gunsmithing/?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)#axzz8HNwRhHALNY’s Door-to-Door Crusade Against Homemade Guns Backfires, Unintentional Masterclass in Ghost-Gunsmithing
Ammoland Inc. Posted on October 26, 2023 by John Crump
Privacy Invasion: New York State Police’s door-to-door checks based on eBay pistol part purchases raise serious privacy concerns.
Misguiding Guide: NYPD’s leaked “ghost gun” handbook, riddled with legal inaccuracies, unintentionally becomes a detailed DIY firearm-making manual.
Unwitting Advertising: NYPD’s guide inadvertently promotes gun part manufacturers and DIY firearm assembly, including 3D printing and CNC machining details.
Ghost Gunner Gun Making CNC Machine
Ghost Gunner Gun Making CNC Machine
New York State declared war on citizens making their own firearms. To crack down on privately manufactured firearms (PMF), the New York State Police (NYSP) are showing up in force at people’s doors. The reason for the informal visit seems to be an inquiry related to purchased pistol parts from the website eBay. Ammoland News has learned from Law Enforcement Sources that the New York Police Department released a “ghost gun” handbook explaining PMFs and how to identify them.
Two weeks ago, NYSP “Ghost Gun” Team members began visiting citizens in the New York City area requesting information about parts purchased from eBay. The parts were purchased from multiple sellers across the auction platform.
Most disturbing, the officers had printouts of everything purchased by the individuals from the website, leading to the question of how the State Police came into possesion the item list.
When the officers show up at New York residents’ doors, they show up in force with between nine and twelve officers. Only two to three officers will speak to the person while the others stand far back in the yard looking bored. The police will ask about the parts and ask to see any firearms that the resident owns. The New York Police are knocking on doors requesting to see the individual’s firearms.
AmmoLand News spoke to several of the residents that the State Police visited. None of the individuals allowed the police to inspect their firearms. The officers would state, “We know what you have.” When the residents still refused to hand over any information, the State Police let them know they could turn in anything violating New York law to the State Police. None of the residents we spoke to were threatened with legal action, and the interactions were between five and fifteen minutes.
Could eBay be handing over private transaction information to the police?
Since the task force had a complete list of the items purchased on eBay, eBay is the most likely source for the information. AmmoLand News reached out to both the New York State Police and eBay, but neither would confirm or deny what information was shared. All interactions AmmoLand News was able to track down are from the greater New York City area. We also have not identified any visits within the city’s five boroughs.
At the same time the New York State Police are going door to door, the New York Police Department (NYPD) released a handbook to identify “ghost guns.”
This guide was leaked to AmmoLand News but is now being widely circulated across the internet.
Ghost Guns: Past, Present, and Future NYPD Intelligence Division Major Case Field Intelligence Team
Ghost Guns: Past, Present, and Future NYPD Intelligence Division Major Case Field Intelligence Team
The guide comes from the NYPD Intelligence Division and aims to help officers identify PMFs. Although the intention is to help police identify PMFs, it reads like a “how-to guide” to firearms building. It lists all the parts needed, where to get them, and examples of homemade guns.
The guide lists a gun’s parts and gives an example of a lower receiver. According to the guide, “all lower receivers need to be serialized” because the federal government considers them firearms. Next to this statement is a picture of an 80% AR-15 receiver. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Final Rule on frame and receiver is very clear on this topic.
The ATF has never and still does not consider 80% AR-15 receivers to be firearms.
The document also incorrectly states that all lower receivers must be serialized under federal law. Once again, the document is incorrect. The ATF says a frame or receiver must only be serialized when transferred. According to federal law, it is legal to have an unserialized firearm unless it previously had a serial number. Many are concerned that these inconsistencies between the law and the guide could lead to false arrests. AmmoLand News contacted the individual contacts listed in the document to see if the misinformation would be corrected, but none responded.
The guidebook calls out several manufacturers, including Polymer80, Glock Store, Strike Industries, 80 Percent Arms, Lone Wolf, Geisler, and JSD Supply. The guide includes a handy list of the companies’ websites and their products.
In addition to those retailers, the guide also covers the Ghost Gunner. The Ghost Gunner is a tabletop CNC machine that allows users to mill a firearm. It also lists the sites that sell the device and shows a picture of the founder of Ghost Gunner and Defense Distributed, Cody Wilson. The document references Defcad, which is another Defense Distributed project.
AmmoLand News spoke to Cody Wilson, who found the New York Police Department handbook to identify “ghost guns” document hilarious. He believes it is an excellent advertisement for his company.
“New York has produced the best getting started guide on the market,” Wilson said. “We will be emailing it to all of our customers.”
The document also explains how to 3D print a gun. It breaks down the printers needed, including the Creality Ender 3, and lists the filament types. It also gives an overview of the most popular slicing software. A current bill in the New York Legislature would require background checks to purchase a 3D printer.
The document also lists the most popular sites for downloading “gun CAD” files. Even if someone were to download the files, they would be unable to turn that 3D-printed model into a working firearm without certain parts. Fortunately for the building community, the NYPD documentation lists the parts and links to sites selling everything a person could use to finish the homemade firearm.
Oh No! Crypto!
The documentation touches on Glock switches purchased off of Chinese sites. These are auto sears and turn a regular Glock into a machine gun. In addition to auto sears, the document also worries about importing solvent traps to make suppressors.
The handbook also states they will attempt to get postal data to track shipments. The NYPD will also try to get Micro Center and Amazon data to track 3D printers and supply purchases. The police attend gun shows in other states to follow the selling of firearms parts.
The document also states that many who print guns are involved in cryptocurrency. The NYPD points to several gun-part retailers that accept BitCoin as a payment option. Many non-gun sites accept cryptocurrency as payment.
It also lists items to look for when executing a search warrant. These include packages, pre-paid credit cards, invoices, gun parts, storage locker keys, 3D printers, flash drives, cell phones, and micro SD cards.
The NYPD will offer a one-hour class to officers to help them identify PMFs. The content of the class has yet to be released, but when made available by the department, AmmoLand News will publish it.
Neither the NYPD, NYSP, nor eBay responded to requests for comment for this story.
LEAKED: Ghost Guns: Past, Present, and Future NYPD Intelligence Division Major Case Field Intelligence
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist; he has written about firearms and interviewed people of all walks of life. Mr. Crump lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at
www.crumpy.com.
John Crump
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