Los Angeles saw an 85 percent increase since 2019 in the number of what are known as ghost guns—non-serialized privately manufactured handguns and rifles—that have been recovered, according to Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Michel Moore.
The LAPD recovered more than 1500 ghost guns to date, Moore told the police commission Nov. 1.
Additionally, there has been a 45 percent increase in robberies involving a firearm compared to 2019, Moore said.
Parts of the ghost guns are sold continually from out of state vendors, commercial establishments, and online sellers, and are assembled in small machine shops, or sometimes garages and backyards, he said.
“Not only do we see the higher prevalence of firearms in regards to robberies, certainly [in the] rate of shooting violence and homicides [too],” Moore said….