PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia County District Attorney’s Office has announced charges against a man accused of making parts for ghost guns, privately-made firearms without serial numbers that are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said Daniel Whiteman, 36, made parts for untraceable guns by using a 3D printer and then pieced them together with other parts he bought online. They said he was printing part of a ghost gun when law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home in Roxborough.
“The apprehension and charging of a man who was building ghost guns by obtaining, over the internet, certain parts and then using a 3D printer to manufacture the remaining necessary parts,” said Krasner.
He added that agents were able to recover the 3D printer, the computer and Whiteman's cellphone, and said they're looking at all three to determine if more firearms were created.
The DA’s office said that authorities believe he created four other weapons, including Glock-style .9mm and .22 caliber firearms, but they said those guns had not yet been recovered.
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Whiteman faces five charges including three felony counts of possessing a prohibited firearm. He has a robbery conviction from 2013 in Delaware County.
Krasner said he hopes a crackdown on the build it yourself weapons will reduce violent gun crimes.
“Things that are being done in relation to ghost guns that are brand new, that are unique, and hopefully will do at least a little bit to address the terrible problems that ghost guns, home manufacture and 3D printers represent,” he said.
Authorities said they saw Whiteman's 3D printer in action.
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Meanwhile, President Biden on Monday highlighted the Justice Department's work to finalize new regulations to crack down on ghost guns.
“Law enforcement is sounding the alarm," Biden said of ghost guns, briefly holding one up for cameras to see in the Rose Garden. “Our communities are paying the price.”
Justice Department statistics show that nearly 24,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes and reported to the government from 2016 to 2020.
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