Number of Ghost Guns Recovered in Rochester Nearly Triples

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – There is a new and growing problem for local law enforcement. Ghost guns are on the rise. The weapons are untraceable, and the number of ghost guns recovered in Rochester nearly tripled in just one year.

Ghost guns look like any other handgun, but with one key difference.

"It doesn't have serial numbers, it makes it not traceable at all for law enforcement,” said Investigator Paul Dondorfer, with the Rochester Police Department.

The guns require assembly after they are purchased allowing them to evade state and federal gun laws including background checks. When shipped they are about 80 percent complete.

"It's already easy for someone to get their hands on an illegal gun and this just makes it easier when you can go to a website and order the parts and put them together yourself,” said Dondorfer.

Rochester Police recovered 16 ghost guns in 2020. That number jumped to 45 in 2021 and this year six ghost guns have already been recovered.

"It's the loophole, it's the work around. It's the way we've used technology in the worst element, a criminal element,” said Senator Jeremy Cooney who represents the 56th district which covers part of the city of Rochester.

Senator Cooney co-sponsored a new law that takes effect April first targeting ghost guns in New York State.

"These are on the rise. I've spoken to RPD as well. While it's not a large percentage of the current guns used in the process of committing a crime, they are on the rise. We want to get ahead of this,” said Cooney.

The new law bans the sale and possession of ghost guns. Cooney says it's another tool for law enforcement.

"If we can reduce the numbers of these guns or increase the penalties for the use of these types of weapons that may dissuade individuals from purchasing parts or assembling them through 3D printing,” he said.

One of the challenges for police is tying ghost guns back to crimes.

"The only way we are going to be able to trace this gun back to a crime is in the lab with the rifling of the barrel matching that to ballistic evidence which makes it extremely difficult to do. You go from something scientific to very simply looking at a serial number and punching that number into a computer,” said Dondorfer.

Similar laws to combat ghost guns have already been enacted in several states including Connecticut and New Jersey and there are growing calls for the ATF to regulate them, but eliminating them completely is unlikely.

"Yes, it will help that we've made another law banning the production and sale of them in New York State, but the reality of it is if a criminal wants to get their hands on something they are going to do that anyways. It doesn't matter what laws are on the books,” said Dondorfer.