LOS ANGELES—California law enforcement took away 54 so-called 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 unique state program, officials said Monday.
The ghost guns, which are 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, known as APPS.
The California registry cross-matches databases to find people who legally purchased weapons but are now banned from ownership because they have been convicted of felonies or a violent misdemeanor, or have a history of domestic violence or mental illness. State and local authorities then can move to seize the weapons under the program, which began in 2006….