The LAPD said Friday that so-called "ghost guns" had been used in 24 murders, eight attempted murders, 60 assaults with deadly weapons, and 20 armed robberies so far in 2021, amid a swell in killings, shootings, and street violence most often committed with firearms.
A report prepared for the Board of Police Commissioners and the LA City Council said officers had seized 863 such firearms during the first six months of 2021, compared with 813 in all of 2020.
The weapons are most often assembled from legally purchased but unregulated parts and do not carry a single manufacturer's serial number. The LAPD said the discovery of these types of firearms had risen by approximately 400% since 2017.
The Department said a popular 9 mm handgun sold in unfinished form could be assembled in less than two hours, and said its records showed 9 mm handguns, though not all 'ghost guns,' were used in 60% of the city's crime involving firearms.
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"Ghost guns are real, they work, and they kill," the memo said.
The City Council voted in August to draft a local law that would prohibit possession or manufacturing of the weapons.
