Well, this is a hell of a thing. Guess we should take away all the legally acquired firearms purchased by law abiding citizens from lawfully licensed firearms dealers who put the buyer through a background check, eh?
Teen in California high school shooting rampage used ‘ghost gun’ made from parts
A 16-year-old boy who opened fire at his Southern California high school, killing two classmates and wounding three others before shooting himself in the head, used a “ghost gun” built from parts, the local sheriff said on Thursday.
Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow pulled the .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol from his backpack on Nov. 14, his birthday, and shot students at Saugus High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita seemingly at random before turning the gun on himself. He died of his wounds the next day.
“When we did a search of the house, we encountered what’s called a kit gun. The weapon used in the homicide was also a kit gun,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told local KABC-TV in an interview.
“It was assembled from parts, had no serial number. So it becomes what’s known as a ‘ghost gun,'” Villanueva said.
Berhow was in violation of California law
As ghost guns proliferate across the state, lawmakers and police are scrambling to understand the scale of the problem, let alone remedy it. In 2016, the California Legislature passed a law requiring residents to register homemade weapons with law enforcement. A separate requirement outlawed the possession of unregistered ghost guns.
To have a “ghost gun” one must be eligible to own a firearm in the first place per California law. A 16 year old is not eligible. It must have a serial number. And it must meet certain other criteria. Oh, and a 16 year old isn’t lawfully eligible to have a handgun. Weird how some people do not follow the law.
