Massachusetts Authorities Find Unmarked Ghost Guns Along With Chinese Silencers

Authorities in Massachusetts have uncovered a shipment of silencers from China and illegal, unmarked ‘ghost guns.’

In a search warrant filed in the Worcester district court, officials alleged that materials and kits that could be used to make guns that lacked serial numbers were found along with illegal silencer components shipped from China to the U.S.

The kits are legal to buy, but contain instructions for using common items to convert them into illegal unmarked weapons. The document filed in Massachusetts stated that a Worcester man was receiving parts to create AR-15 style weapons along with the silencers, which are illegal in the state but not elsewhere.

Theoretically, homemade firearms without serial numbers are legal, but they must have a serial number if they are sold. The kits also allow buyers to bypass background checks and firearm licensing procedures.

This isn’t the first time that these kits have created problems. Several mayors in New York, California, Illinois, and South Carolina are suing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to redefine what counts as a gun, Syracuse.com reported.

Online retailers have received explicit approval from the Trump administration’s ATF to distribute the firearms, some of which are almost entirely complete and require minimal experience to assemble.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., stopped in Syracuse on Feb. 2 to speak about the issue. He noted the shooting of a 6-year-old boy with one of the weapons and said that stopping them would be “ridiculously easy.”

The most recent case, in Worcester, was filed against a Thomas Gallagher. Court documents say that the 29-year-old man had several firearms and firearm accessories despite not being licensed. It is not his first firearm offense, the documents alleged, and he frequently posted on Facebook about using firearms against government overreach. He now faces firearm, ammunition, and drug charges.