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Local Houston news station KHOU<\/a> ran a report (see video above) this week that covered the \u201cupward trend\u201d of homemade \u201cghost guns\u201d purportedly being used in crimes across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the story, they interviewed Earl Griffith, the Chief of the ATF\u2019s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division, who came in from D.C. to teach local law enforcement about what to look for when they\u2019re policing the streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a 3D-printed silencer,\u201d Griffith said as he held up a 3D printed suppressor. \u201cInnovations in firearms have gone wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Griffith also showed off an auto sear that was also made using additive processing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s all machine guns. It\u2019s not just traditional one shot, one shot, one shot. Now it\u2019s machine guns,\u201d Griffith explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Approximately six weeks ago, three Houston police officers were shot<\/a> by a criminal who had a firearm that was illegally modified to function on full auto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo that\u2019s the concern,\u201d Griffith said. \u201cA lot of innocent bystanders are in the line of this fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chief complained that technological progress in this space has made 3D printing cheaper, more widespread, and easier for the end-user. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Glock switch or auto sear can be made for as little as $200 and finished in about 40 minutes, he told KHOU. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a game-changer,\u201d Griffith said. \u201cNow it\u2019s like anyone can do this. You don\u2019t need a special skill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some time now, anti-gunners have been going nuts over the issue of home gunsmithing<\/a>, an activity that is perfectly legal provided one is not a prohibited person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They believe that by regulating certain gun parts and kits as traditional firearms they\u2019ll be able to stop criminals from getting so-called \u201cghost guns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, it\u2019s a fool\u2019s errand.\u00a0 Just as addicts will always find drugs, criminals will always obtain firearms.\u00a0 Even if lawmakers were to find a way to stop all 3D printing and DIY gun-making tomorrow, criminals would revert to tried and true methods: straw purchasers, robbing gun stores<\/a>, stealing firearms from friends and family members, purchasing guns on the black market or from the dark web<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution to crime is to focus on criminals. The reality is a small number of known criminals are responsible for the majority of violence, as GunsAmerica previously reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n To give one perspective, per a new study<\/a> conducted by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, during a one-year period roughly 500 identifiable individuals were responsible for 60-70 percent of all gun violence in Washington, D.C. \u2014 with no more than 200 at any one given time. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Law enforcement should target these individuals. Again, they\u2019re not hard to find. About 86 percent are already in the system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOverall, most victims and suspects with prior criminal offenses had been arrested about 11 times for about 13 different offenses by the time of the homicide,\u201d the study indicates. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can’t put the 3D printing genie back in the bottle. And, more gun control, no matter how draconian, is not going to stop these hardened criminals. Provided they can’t be rehabilitated or incentivized to stop offending<\/a>, our only option is to take ’em off the streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Local Houston news station KHOU ran a report this week that covered the \u201cupward trend\u201d of homemade \u201cghost guns\u201d used in crimes across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":160703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[244,25,240],"tags":[132,535,607],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-160702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-2nd-amendment-r2kba","8":"category-current-events","9":"category-this-week","10":"tag-buzz","11":"tag-crime","12":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\nSEE ALSO: Crazy Footage Shows Massive Gun Heist in Houston Gun Store<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
***Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a>*** <\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"