Despite some extremist groups’ misguided legal efforts, it remains extraordinarily difficult to legally purchase firearms in New York City. They can still be had on the black market coming in from the persistent Iron Pipeline, but Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have begun cracking down on that smuggling pathway, and buying an illegal gun can be both expensive and dangerous.
So what’s an enterprising domestic abuser, drug dealer, or would-be shooter to do? The easy option is to purchase what’s called a ghost gun, essentially a disassembled weapon that does not technically count as a firearm, at least not until it is put together in as little as a half hour.
Not only is this as simple as buying a TV or a toaster online, it is perfectly legal, sidestepping gun laws and allowing malefactors to wield instruments that carry no serial numbers and are virtually untraceable no matter what a background check would have turned up for them. Once a trigger is pulled, they fire just like any other, no matter where they came from.
