PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City Council will vote on a new bill to ban 3-D-printed “ghost guns” — guns without serial numbers — after hearing testimony from a top police department official on the surge of untraceable weapons in Philadelphia.
Ghost guns can come in two forms: 3-D-printed or milled by a machine. City Council’s bill would be limited to 3-D-printed ghost guns.
“It is not unlawful for people to actually create their own firearms, but it is for personal use. It’s when those firearms come into the market the way we see, it becomes a problem,” said Frank Healy, who runs the Philadelphia Police Department’s Office of Forensic Science.
Healy spoke in front of the City Council Committee for Public Safety.
“In 2018, the (Philadelphia Police Department) recovered 12. In 2019, the number rose to 97. And year to date, as of Friday, we have recovered 168,” he said.
The guns, which are impossible to track, ultimately help shooters get away with crimes, Healy said.
The committee voted to move the bill to full council.
The state tried to enact a stricter policy for most types of ghost guns last year, but the effort was blocked in January by a federal judge, after a push by a guns rights group. It is still be litigated in court.