AKRON, Ohio — A recent arrest by the Akron Police Department is highlighting the concerns over so-called "ghost guns," those untraceable build-it-yourself firearms that carry no serial numbers.
Officers' body-worn camera video captured the heart-pounding foot chase last March of a 16-year-old suspect, who took off running when police arrived in the area of Dover Ave. and LaBelle Ave. because of multiple calls for gunshots fired.
Officers reported seeing the teen reaching into his right pocket for a gun while running. Despite multiple commands ordering the teen to stop and drop his weapon, the teen ran down a small hill and fell down.
According to the police report, the gun that officers recovered was loaded with an extended magazine and one round in the chamber. It was made of gray polymer plastic material, with a slide without any markings. No serial number, make, or model was on the firearm.
"What kind of gun is that?" one officer is heard asking the suspect. "It's like a ghost gun. It doesn't have any markings on it," he said.
Ghost guns look, fire, and can kill like any other gun, but they're assembled from firearms kits that are bought online or in stores without a background check, and easily purchased by convicted felons, children, or anyone who's restricted by law from owning a firearm.
Timothy S. Canon, assistant special agent in charge of the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms' Cleveland office says it requires little expertise to assemble the parts to build an untraceable weapon.
"You can buy something that is practically finished, and then the individual consumer only has to make a few cuts of plastic, or drill a few holes in a certain location, and then you have a completed firearm," he said.
Last year, the ATF reported almost 20,000 suspected ghost guns were recovered from criminal investigations -- a tenfold increase since 2016. In April, the Biden Administration announced new federal actions to ban the manufacture of unlicensed gun kits and require federally licensed gun dealers to add serial numbers to existing weapons in stock.
"You can't connect the gun to the shooter, to hold them accountable," said President Biden during his announcement of the new rules, which are being implemented through the President's executive authority, since Congress would not have been able to pass gun safety reforms. The new regulations take effect on August 24.
Gun rights advocates say they will challenges the new rules in court.
Doug Murillo, owner and instructor at Stonewall Tactical gun shop in Broadview Heights, said the new rules won't change much of anything.
"You know, [the government should] enforce the laws that are already in place," he said. "Putting more laws in place to legal law abiding citizens isn't really going to answer the question of the bad guys still getting a hold of guns."
Just one day after Biden's announcement on ghost guns, a man opened fire on a New York City subway, injuring two dozen people. The weapon that was recovered -- and its serial number -- led police to the suspect.
Being able to track down the origins of a gun is a necessary crime-solving tool, says Canon, from the ATF.
"That's one of the biggest benefits for law enforcement, is that we use the serial number to initiate a trace which then will help us determine the life of a firearm," he explained.
The Akron Police Department and the ATF are still investigating the origins of the gun found with the 16-year-old, who now faces weapons charges. While the federal agency does not have data on the number of ghost guns involved in criminal investigations in Northeast Ohio, local police officers tell 3News that they've seen more of them on the streets in recent years, but still far fewer than in west coast states like California, where 22-percent of guns recovered by the Los Angeles Police Department last year were ghost guns.
Currently in Ohio, it is legal to buy and build your own gun without state regulation.
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