California law enforcement confiscated 54 “ghost guns” last year from people who can’t legally own firearms, a 38 percent jump in the number of the hard-to-trace weapons seized since 2021 under a state program, officials said Monday.
The ghost guns—privately made firearms without a serial number—were part of nearly 1,500 guns taken statewide last year through an only-in-California program called the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS).
A statement issued by the Office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the APPS database works to identify individuals who procured firearms and later became prohibited from legally owning them.
In general, prohibited persons in APPS include individuals who were convicted of a felony or violent misdemeanor, were placed under a domestic violence or other restraining order, or suffer from serious mental illness, the statement said….