San Diego to consider an ordinance barring ghost guns

Alarmed by the proliferation of ghost guns on San Diego’s streets, a City Council member has proposed making it illegal to buy and sell gun parts that cannot be traced by law enforcement.

Ghosts guns are do-it-yourself firearms assembled by hand from parts that sometimes come in prepackaged kits. The parts are not classified as guns so they have no serial number, making them difficult if not impossible track. Anyone can legally buy the parts.

San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert’s proposed ordinance would prohibit buying, selling or possessing the frame of an unfinished gun unless it has a serial number — treating the unfinished firearm part just like a completed firearm.

On Monday, the council will get its first look at von Wilpert’s proposed ordinance, which she has dubbed the Eliminate Non-serialized Untraceable Firearm — or E.N.U.F. — ordinance. The measure would not apply to guns that are inoperable, antique or made before 1968. A violation of the proposed ordinance would be a misdemeanor.

Von Wilpert, who represents District 5, which includes northeast San Diego, said ghost guns undermine federal and state laws aimed at keeping guns from people “who pose a danger to our communities.”

“Ghost guns are designed for the purpose of avoiding background checks, waiting periods and other state and federal laws to prevent individuals from committing crimes with guns,” she said.

A ghost gun kit and a completed weapon seized by San Diego police, as displayed for reporters July 14.

(Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

If the council approves it, the proposed ordinance would come back for second reading in September and could go into in effect sometime this fall.

“We cannot wait for the government and the state of California to regulate the ghost gun industry,” von Wilpert said. “City governments must lead to prevent gun violence in our own communities.”

Von Wilpert said she was spurred to take action after an April 22 shooting spree in the Gaslamp Quarter, when a gunman shot and killed a parking valet and opened fire on a group of tourists.

The man accused of being the shooter was a felon barred from having a weapon. Police said he used a ghost gun.

Since the Gaslamp attack, police Chief David Nisleit has underscored the ease of getting ghost guns — which he said police usually find the hands of people who would not pass a background check to purchase a gun, such as felons who are barred from possessing firearms.

Earlier this month, Nisleit announced that the department had assembled a team of five investigators dedicated to cases involving the manufacture and illegal sale of ghost guns. They will also respond when officers find ghost guns, to figure out where the weapon came from.

San Diego police have said they are on pace this year to more than double the number of ghost guns that they impounded last year. The department said Wednesday that it has recovered 255 ghost guns this year — more than they seized all of last year.

One of every five of the 1,219 guns San Diego police have seized this year is a ghost gun, according to numbers provided by the department.

Last Friday, San Diego police shot and killed a 22-year-old man after a chase ended in Talmadge. They were pursing him as the suspect in a shooting earlier the same night in Rolando. Authorities said the suspect had a ghost gun.