So-called ghost guns — 3D-printed firearms that can be assembled for a fraction of the price a licensed firearm user can purchase a similar gun — grew for more common starting in 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
New Jersey needs additional laws to stem a surge of so-called ghost guns and firearm conversion kits that transform semi-automatic guns into fully automatic ones, the State Commission of Investigation said in a new report released Tuesday .
Ghost guns are 3D-printed firearms that can be assembled for a fraction of the price a licensed firearm user can purchase a similar gun. They lack serial numbers that enable law enforcement to track them.
Though manufacturing ghost guns and selling designs for such weapons is illegal in New Jersey, the law does not criminalize possession of the computer code needed to make them.
“The Commission’s findings reveal that New Jersey should adopt or amend existing laws to address the latest technological advances used by criminal elements to circumvent gun restrictions and corrupt firearms to make them even more dangerous,” the commission’s report said.
That should change, the commission said, because those plans and the 3D printers needed to assemble ghost guns and other firearm components — like magazines with higher capacities than allowed by state law — are readily available.
“We will review the report once we receive it and give the SCI’s recommendations careful consideration,” said Richard McGrath, a spokesperson for Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union).
Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, did not return a request for comment. The group has brought multiple lawsuits challenging New Jersey gun laws, including ones limiting where New Jerseyans can carry firearms and barring ownership of Colt AR-15s. A federal judge ruled in favor of the group in the latter challenge in July.
Ghost guns grew far more common during the pandemic. Authorities recovered 55 of them in 2019, compared to 433 in 2022 and 332 last year.
Conversion kits that transform semi-automatic firearms to fully automatic ones that cost between $20 and $40 should also be outlawed, the commission said.
State law already bars the possession of fully automatic weapons, but possession of such a conversion kit is illegal only if it is already installed on a firearm.
Such devices, which the commission said are readily available for purchase through encrypted messaging apps like Telegram, have grown far more common in recent years. Between 2017 and 2021, police recovered more than 5,400 conversion kits, a nearly six-fold increase over the preceding five-year period, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Their prevalence in New Jersey is unclear as the New Jersey State Police only began collecting data on recovered conversion devices this spring, but the commission’s report warns the kits have already led to an increase in bystander shootings, citing an April shooting in New Brunswick that saw a bystander wounded by a bullet in her second-story home.
“They can’t control where the bullets go to,” State Police Lt. Col. Joseph Brennan told the commission at an April hearing . “There’s more likelihood of unintended targets.”
The commission also recommended that the state extend the time defendants charged with firearms offenses can be held while awaiting pretrial detention decisions, warning the 48-hour deadline provided by current law is too short to allow ballistics analysis. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella told the commission that analysis takes roughly five days.
Extending that timeline to provide for ballistics testing could allow investigators to link firearms to other shootings. The commission’s report notes a suspect arrested while in possession of a gun that had been publicly discharged 10 times over a 12-month span in Paterson was released before trial because ballistics test results were not available during their pretrial detention hearing.
Public firearm discharges that don’t harm anyone should also have their penalties upgraded, the commission said. Under current law, such discharges are often treated as criminal mischief — a minor charge used for property damage and graffiti — and are not cause to hold suspects in custody while they await trial.
“The Assembly has passed common-sense gun safety legislation to protect New Jersey citizens, and we will continue to do everything to safeguard the residents of this state. We appreciate the analysis from the SCI and will review the recommendations put forward,” said Rhonda Schaffler, a spokesperson for Assembly Democrats.
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