A Field Guide to Ghost Guns
A Field Guide to Ghost Guns
For Police and Forensic Investigations
Robert E. Walker
First edition published 2022
by CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Walker, Robert E., 1973- author.
Title: A field guide to ghost guns : for police and forensic investigations / Robert E. Walker.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021023015 (print) | LCCN 2021023016 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367490959 (hbk) | ISBN 9781032125305 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003044499 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Home-built firearms. | Firearms and crime.
Classification: LCC TS535 .W24 2022 (print) | LCC TS535 (ebook) | DDC 364.2--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023015
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023016
ISBN: 978-0-367-49095-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-12530-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-04449-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003044499
Typeset in Minion
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This work is dedicated to my lovely wife, Jayne, and our three children,
Sam, Ava, and Max, who are all partners in this craft.
Congratulations, we did it again.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Over the course of our lives, many of us have the good fortune of encountering others who play a pivotal role in our lives they enlighten, inspire, and cultivate the habits of the mind. We are influenced in many ways by others who serve to set an example of what to do or not to do, and I have been acquainted with both. There are many to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for helping me to get where I am. I cannot name all of you here at the risk of carelessly overlooking someone, but you will know who you are, and I deeply appreciate your council, mentorship, and wisdom.
A special thank you to the folks at Defense Distributed for the images of the Ghost Gunner 3 that appear in this text.
And finally, I want once again to extend my special thanks to those of you who, in your own way, continue to inspire me to put my thoughts into words and words to paper, which brings forth this text.
Foreword
From the first chapter of A Field Guide to Ghost Guns: For Police and Forensic Investigations, where the history of gun manufacturing provides a nostalgic look back to the Golden Age of engineering and manufacturing of firearms much of which was borne out of a necessity to preserve life, freedom, and the democratic ideals of Western civilization this book informs the reader how the past has shaped the present in the manufacture of firearms. The rise in the homemade manufacture of firearms, or so-called ghost guns, coincides with the rise of the internet and fear of a growing surveillance state. This perceived threat, real or otherwise, stems from an ever-growing and intrusive government that seeks more and more control over the lives of its citizens. As the surveillance state grows through the collection of metadata, those with the means and the know-how are themselves taking advantage of technology to manufacture firearms outside of the boundaries and limitations of the Gun Control Act. While some would say that these citizen gunmakers are exploiting loopholes in the Act, others would simply state that these resourceful individuals are just using their rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
The number of these resourceful citizens will likely only grow larger and more determined. After the governmental lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic, which imposed severe restrictions on peoples civil liberties and freedom of movement, the suspicion and fear of government has increased. Moreover, the nationwide civil unrest of 2020 caused many to fear for their physical safety. As a result, record numbers of citizens are purchasing firearms at rates so high that gun stores are having problems keeping their stores stocked with inventory. When you combine the current public atmosphere and the heavy demand for firearms with a perceived governmental ideology that seeks to limit firearms ownership, the number of homemade firearms not subject to governmental registration is only bound to increase in the future.
Thus, the term ghost guns will almost certainly become a familiar and often used phrase in the public discourse. A Field Guide to Ghost Guns: For Police and Forensic Investigations is a necessary read for anyone who wants to educate themselves about how and why ghost guns are manufactured. Although assault weapons is the term used for the moment in todays political debate about firearms restrictions, ghost guns will be the term used for the political debate of tomorrow and the foreseeable future. A Field Guide to Ghost Guns: For Police and Forensic Investigations is the first book that imparts a level of knowledge to the reader that previously was only known to certain members of law enforcement with expertise in firearms, such as the BATF and the FBI.
Jean-Paul Galasso, Esq., B.C.S., Board Certified Criminal Trial Attorney
Preface
Firearms are a divisive subject, one that there seems to be little, if any, common ground remaining in American political discourse. The individuals and the collectives access to and ownership of firearms is articulated in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. The pedant among us relishes the dissection of the exact meanings hidden within the combination, order, scope, and original intent of the words in this verbiage, which has evolved into a debate defined more by the minutia and semantics than the basic premise. The disputation is far down the rabbit hole in pursuit of subtleties: barrel lengths, how the ammunition storage mechanism is attached to the firearm, the style of stock, to name a few. All of these essentially nibble around the edges, establishing public policy by way of
