Attorney General Bonta’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention Issues Inaugural Report on California’s Fight Against the Ghost Gun Crisis

Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today released a groundbreaking report from the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) on California’s efforts to address the threat of ghost guns. These guns are firearms produced by unlicensed individuals from products sold without background checks, serial numbers, sale records, or other safety protections. This report provides new in-depth data analysis about ghost guns recovered from crime in California, along with other research, court documents, and narrative sources, to document the impact of the ghost gun crisis and California’s response.

“This report documents just how dangerous the ghost gun industry is and how much harm its skip-the-background-check business model has done to California’s communities,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “There is hope. We have made astonishing progress at addressing this threat in our state. California is building a model for policymakers in other states and in Congress to comprehensively address the ghost gun crisis nationwide. I’m committed to continuing to prioritize efforts to protect Californians from an industry that sells ghost gun products designed to skirt the law and arm people who never passed a background check with weapons designed to end life.”  

“This important new report shows how California is starting to bend the curve on one of the most alarming facets of the gun violence epidemic: the proliferation of untraceable ghost guns,” said Mike McLivley, Policy Director at the GIFFORDS Center for Violence Intervention. “Through a potent combination of smart legislation, litigation, and public advocacy, California is making real progress on this issue and once again providing a model for the rest of the nation when it comes to reducing gun violence. We thank Attorney General Bonta, Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Ari Freilich, and everyone at the California Department of Justice for their hard work on this report and their tireless efforts to keep Californians safe from all forms of gun violence.”

“This report tells the compelling story of how California spotted the emerging threat of ghost guns and took decisive action to slow the spread of these deadly DIY weapons,” said Krystal LoPilato, Senior Policy Counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety. “It’s a must-read for any state interested in protecting communities from an industry trying to sidestep gun safety laws for its own financial gain. The data shows great progress, but we know there’s more work to be done. We are proud to stand by Attorney General Bonta, California lawmakers, and stakeholders around California as we work together to combat the ghost gun crisis.”

The report outlines how California has taken strong action to address the ghost gun crisis through law enforcement actions, litigation against ghost gun companies and federal regulators, local gun safety ordinances, and in 2022 and 2023, by enacting the nation’s most comprehensive ghost gun reform legislation. The number of ghost guns recovered from crime in the state grew enormously every year from 2013-2021 but then decreased by 23% between 2021 and 2023. The report highlights California’s significant recent progress as a model for policymakers in other states and at the federal level to address the ghost gun crisis nationwide.

While the report documents California’s recent progress, it also includes a warning that the ghost gun market is increasingly shifting toward skip-the-background-check products and services designed to enable individuals to illegally produce ghost guns without any background check or other protections using 3-D printers, computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines, and similar ghost gun manufacturing machines. California has passed nation-leading legislation to begin to address these threats, including through AB 1089, which took effect this year. To help promote compliance, enforcement, and accountability with these new laws, the report includes a California Ghost Gun Laws Quick Reference Guide, which provides a summary of California’s civil and criminal statutes governing ghost guns and unlicensed firearm manufacturing. 

The report also summarizes DOJ’s litigation efforts against ghost gun companies, as well as litigation both in defense of and against actions taken by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) on ghost guns. In 2022, ATF issued a revised federal rule to ensure some key ghost gun products are subject to federal firearm laws like dealer background check requirements. DOJ has helped defend that ATF Rule in court for its vital efforts to regulate some ghost gun products at the federal level. At the same time, DOJ successfully challenged ATF’s Rule in California v. ATF for retaining loopholes that fail to regulate certain other ghost gun products. On October 8, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok concerning whether ATF’s Rule on ghost guns is consistent with existing federal law and agency authority. California DOJ joined a coalition of 22 states urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear that case and overturn a decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that would threaten to leave the ghost gun industry largely unregulated at the federal level. While a national response is vital, California’s much broader, codified state ghost gun reforms will remain in place regardless of the outcome in that case.

OGVP was launched by Attorney General Bonta in 2022. The office, dedicated to developing strategies and working with stakeholders statewide to address the gun violence epidemic, is the first in the nation established within an attorney general’s office. The office has published three other data and policy reports on the impact of gun violence in California, on the intersection of domestic violence and firearms, and on utilizing California’s nine court protection order processes to prevent gun violence. Over the last 30 years, California has reduced its gun violence rate compared to the rest of the United States; once 50% above average, California’s firearm homicide rate is now 33% below the rest of the United States. Additionally, if the firearm mortality rate in the rest of the United States had matched California’s between 2013-2022, there would have been nearly 140,000 fewer firearm-related deaths nationwide in that decade alone.

A copy of OGVP’s report on ghost guns can be found here.