The video investigates the phenomenon of ghost guns in the United States and their impact on gun laws and public safety. Ghost guns refer to unlicensed and untraceable firearms that can be assembled at home using 3D printers or DIY kits purchased online without any background checks or identification requirements. This growing trend challenges traditional gun regulations and has facilitated an influx of firearms into criminal hands, posing significant challenges for law enforcement.

The discussion includes insights from law enforcement officials, activists, and individuals involved in the manufacturing and distribution of ghost guns. It highlights how the availability of ghost guns has contributed to gun violence, and has been exploited by gangs, criminals, and young individuals who are legally restricted from obtaining conventional firearms. Moreover, it showcases how ghost guns are being used in crimes, including their purchase by youths and gang members to evade gun laws.

Main takeaways from the video include:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. untraceable [ʌnˈtreɪsəbl] - (adjective) - Something that cannot be tracked or traced back to its origin. - Synonyms: (undetectable, untrackable, invisible)

Ghost guns are weapons without serial numbers, untraceable guns, which pose an enormous challenge for cops investigating gun violence.

2. manufacture [ˌmænjuˈfæktʃər] - (verb) - To make or produce goods on a large scale using machinery. - Synonyms: (produce, create, fabricate)

The team is executing a search warrant on the home of a convicted felon, a home they suspect is being used to manufacture ghost guns.

3. proliferation [prəˌlɪfəˈreɪʃn] - (noun) - Rapid increase or spread of something. - Synonyms: (expansion, multiplication, propagation)

Main takeaways from the video include... the moral and legal dilemmas facing society around the proliferation of untraceable weapons.

4. contraband [ˈkɒntrəˌbænd] - (noun) - Goods that are imported or exported illegally. - Synonyms: (smuggled goods, black market goods, illegal imports)

It's hard for me to imagine ghost guns aren't having an impact in America's rising gun violence. The industry is ripe for exploitation.

5. ideological [ˌaɪdiəˈlɒdʒɪkl] - (adjective) - Based on or relating to a set of beliefs or ideals. - Synonyms: (philosophical, doctrinal, theoretical)

His ideological inspiration is WikiLeaks founder and free speech radical Julian Assange.

6. anarchist [ˈænərkɪst] - (noun) - A person who believes in or tries to bring about anarchy. - Synonyms: (revolutionary, rebel, insurgent)

Some say Cody is a gun rights activist; others call him an anarchist.

7. firearm [ˈfaɪərˌɑrm] - (noun) - A portable gun, such as a rifle or pistol. - Synonyms: (gun, weapon, arm)

Every firearm is made up of multiple parts.

8. trafficking [ˈtræfɪkɪŋ] - (verb) - The illegal trade of goods or services, typically across borders. - Synonyms: (smuggling, trading, dealing)

So they accused Cody of illegally trafficking weapons overseas

9. legal loophole [ˈliːɡəl ˈluːphoʊl] - (noun) - An ambiguity in the law that allows individuals or companies to avoid the intent of a law without technically breaking it. - Synonyms: (technicality, gap, escape clause)

Ghost gun companies don't, because they argue they're not selling guns; they're selling parts.

10. anonymity [ˌænəˈnɪməti] - (noun) - The condition of being anonymous; having one's identity unknown or concealed. - Synonyms: (namelessness, obscurity, secrecy)

And how ghost guns are making their way into the hands of criminals... because IDs aren't required to order ghost guns.

Investigating the Ghost Gun Epidemic (Full Episode) - Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller

Americans and Ghanas go hand in hand. They're part of the country's founding mythology. And for some citizens, they go to the core of what it means to be an American. We're surrounded by a sea of wonderful products to buy. The son of a gun.

Today, the US has nearly 400 million firearms in circulation. It's the only country in the world with more guns than people. All of this is constitutionally protected and 100% legal. But a new kind of weapons technology is testing the limits of America's gun laws. They're called ghost guns. Unlicensed, untraceable, and easy to assemble at home. Almost everything you see here is just printed on a 3D printer.

Do they ask you any questions? Nope. As long as you're in the States, I'm mail it to you. I want to know who's making them, who's buying them. Have you sold to criminals? This is where we get in trouble right here. I don't feel right. Are we good? Wipe that. And how. These weapons are getting into the hands of America's most violent gangs. This is a world you will have to live in. There's no going back.

We're searching for ammunition and firearms. No one inside of this house has any guns registered to them, but there's likely several guns inside here. We don't necessarily anticipate any violence, but they are meth users, and the dope game is unpredictable. Welcome to the front line of the fight against ghost guns. Detective Ryan Swetovich is a member of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Gang Suppression Unit. Today the team is executing a search warrant on the home of a convicted felon, a home they suspect is being used to manufacture ghost guns.

So when we pull up in front of the house, try to stay behind a vehicle so you're a little bit more protected. Okay. In case there are shots fired. Correct. Okay. Here you go. This is the Alameda County Sheriff's office. Come to the front door with nothing in your hands. Come on down the stairs. Oh, somebody just came out. Oh, my God. Over the next couple hours, the team locates an impressive weapons cache. That was inside that long one, too? Yeah. So she's not supposed to have firearms, but this is actually from a company. And then they drilled some holes in it, milled it out, and then completed the gun. There's no serial number on that plate. So it's a ghost gun as well. Correct.

Yeah. This is a critical point. Ghost guns are weapons without serial numbers, untraceable guns, which pose an enormous challenge for Cops investigating gun violence, that's crazy. Did you think you were gonna find so many guns? I didn't think we were gonna find this many. I mean, right here. Just what we found so far. You know, about 30% of the guns here are ghost guns.

This is not an isolated incident. Illegal ghost gun recoveries are accelerating and there's a disturbing reason why. The 13 year old who was allegedly selling ghost guns. And you can manufacture your own gun and build something that could kill people. Right now there are more than 80 companies selling ghost guns straight to your door. Unlike traditional firearms, they can be purchased without any IDs or background checks. Buyers get what's called an 80% build kit. They simply drill a few holes and assemble. It's like IKEA for lethal weapons. This is how I've built mine. How will you build yours?

This is basically an AR15 rifle that's been converted to fire handgun ammunition. Nine millimeter ammunition in this case. We executed a search warrant on someone who was manufacturing these guns and likely selling them to gang members. That you found somebody making their own AR15 to sell to gang members on the streets of the United States. Correct? Yeah. If he's going to put guns in the hands of gang members, he absolutely should not have that thing. And it's ghost gun technology like this that's making it possible.

This actual device is a mill. It's an electronic mill. And so you plug that into a laptop or any sort of a computer and with the software that you can download, you can finish firearms. The operation they busted earlier tonight was using hand drills and Dremels to make ghost guns. These are just regular hand tools. Somewhat primitive compared to this machine, which allows someone to professionally mill metal gun parts at home. So do you mind if I look for? I'm trying to figure out what company makes this. No, go for it.

Oh, wow. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state to keep and bear arms. It's the Bill of Rights that's written here. Have you seen this? No, I didn't see that. A little more poking around reveals that the machine is manufactured by Defense Distributed, a company base 1,500 miles away in Austin, Texas. It's like a tradition of ours to put in little Easter eggs.

So we just managed to fit the entire Bill of Rights on this LED board. Really all of it is here. You would never know that, you know, but that's just a little gift of love from us to you. This looks like a Star wars gun almost, right? Careful where you point that. But this is JSARK's FGC9. Oh, this is the. Here's your barrel. Yeah. This is JSARK's FGC9. This is the Mark 2. Oh, and FGC stands for Gun Control. Gun Control 9 millimeter. And almost everything you see here is actually just printed on a 3D printer.

Anyone in the world should be able to make it if they have the right equipment. A decade ago, 3D printed guns like this were the stuff of science fiction. When I see this gun, I see the fulfillment of the things that I was doing. So you're proud of it? I enjoy it. I love it. Yeah. I look at it more like a child. The man I'm speaking with didn't invent this particular weapon, but he gave birth to the technology that made it possible. His name is Cody Wilson. Cody Wilson. Cody Wilson.

He's the director of Defense Distributor, one of the country's leading ghost gun manufacturers. If you can run a computer, you can run a ghost gun. Some say Cody is a gun rights activist. As long as you have the right to keep and bear arms, you have the right to make them. Others call him an anarchist. This is about weapons of war being made in people's living rooms. There would be nothing illegal about even felons or other people getting it.

Wired magazine once labeled him one of the 15 most dangerous people in the world. The new wave of American gun violence. That's because Cody Wilson was the first person to build a fully functional 3D printed firearm. I didn't know how to print a gun. I didn't know how to use a 3D printer, but I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a wiki weapon. I wanted to WikiLeaks for guns. Three dimensional printers use raw materials like metal or plastic, depositing them layer after layer until they create a three dimensional object.

Today's 3D printers can make just about anything from medical prosthetics and children's toys to furniture and, of course, firearms. Cody called his very first creation the Liberator. So this was one of the first, what, five guns that. I would say it's one of the first three liberators. And did you actually go out and shoot this one? Yeah. In fact, you can still see the dust and the grime and the. You can, yeah, the explosive powder burns. And this thing has been fired. In fact, In May of 2013, Cody posted a video of himself successfully test firing the Liberator, then uploaded the gun's design onto the web, making it accessible to anyone online, including criminals and terrorists.

It was downloaded nearly 100,000 times. Were you suppressed? Yeah. Wow. Okay. I'm thrown into this world just like you are now. We live in a world of 3D guns. It's a world the US government wasn't happy about. So they accused Cody of illegally trafficking weapons overseas. The fun thing of the law is there's a line. Before that line. This is a piece of metal. It might have a funny shape, but it means nothing. After this line, the ATF says, this is a firearm. What do you think of that line? If the ATF wants to redraw the line, will redraw the line too.

Cody sued the U.S. government, and they ultimately backed down. So your defense was the right of free speech to be able to put out this code that makes these guns? Yeah, exactly. It's a game. Why can't I play this game right now? The rules of the game say that any American company selling guns needs a Federal Firearms License, or ffl. Ghost gun companies don't because they argue. They're not selling guns. They're selling parts.

I can buy all these parts from you, everything, everything you see, and then I can put it together. It all comes down to a surprisingly complicated question. What exactly is a gun? Every firearm is made up of multiple parts. Some parts are metal, others are plastic. But the US Government doesn't regulate pieces of plastic and metal. Who can determine and by what means? When a piece of metal is a gun is more like a gun than not a gun. Right?

So a bureaucrat looks at a gun and says, this is when this becomes a gun. This is when this becomes a gun. And these things have no real relation to each other. For the moment, federal law has decided that the firearm frame or lower receiver is, in fact, what makes a gun. And once a series of holes are drilled into the frame, it becomes a working firearm and worthy of regulation.

That's how ghost gun companies get away with selling incomplete 80% kits because there's still some at home, assembly required. We've spoken to a lot of police departments around the country, and we know that there are a lot more of those guns showing up in crime scenes. The epidemic of gun violence gripping America. He built this. Last year, more than 20, 20,000 people were killed by a firearm in the United States. How do you feel about that? I'm happy that these police are, you know, I don't know what. Finding work. Be a detective. Do your job. All right. How is this my problem?

This is how you buy, like, a whole Glock. What we do ahead of time is you know, we chop it up, we make sure that the regulated part is no longer in the package. So the lower receiver isn't here. You. You know, you've got one, you're one step removed. Your lower is on a usb. Wow. Think about it. Oh, my. This is so crazy to me. So you. You buy this, you've got all the parts you need except for the little receiver, which is usually. It's the registered part. But guess what? You have a USB that will teach you how to make a gun.

I'm trying to understand how ghost guns are making their way into the hands of criminals. And there's no better person to ask than Cody Wilson, the man who gave birth to the ghost gun industry. So if the federal government, if the authorities were to open this, everything is legal. I don't see a gun in here. I don't see a gun. Sorry, nothing in here looks regulated to me. So it's a way of trying to skirt the law. I think it's, you know, more. It's more grand than that. Right. It's a way of making the law pointless. This changes the balance of power between the state and between the individual.

Cheap available guns, downloadable guns, 3D printed guns, guns with no serial numbers. This is a world you will have to live in, you know, like there's no going back. Cody calls himself a crypto anarchist. His ideological inspiration is WikiLeaks founder and free speech radical Julian Assange. Of course, Cody's focus isn't speech, it's guns. He advocates for immunity from any government oversight. But would a world without meaningful gun laws increase freedom or just fuel anarchy?

How do you feel about the fact that ghost guns are being used to commit crimes? To kill innocent people? Guns kill people. You know, this is what makes them effective politically. Interesting, Right? But there's a reason why they're using ghost guns, right? Because they are untraceable. Because they're easy. Oh, look, I agree. You still haven't answered my question, though. How do you feel? Excited. Empowered. Right. Capable of delivering more damage. I think I'll be a bigger problem to the government, and I think, you know, that's what I've always been trying to be.

I think a lot of people would find that incredibly dangerous, as you. Sure. You know, I'm an American, you know, moved to Finland. It hurts to be told when you're not very old that you and I son and that you're the son of a gun. It's already incredibly easy to get a gun in the US So I want to understand who's buying ghost guns and why? Wow. That's a lot of weapons, huh? Wow. It's a 3D printed air. Can I hold it? Yep. It's. Oh, wow. So it's all. It's 3D printed.

What part of it. It's the lower receiver. Receiver? Do you have a machine? The 3D printer? Yep. And then the rest is just parts that you buy. Parts you buy online. My contact tells me to call him Dutch. He says he built this AR15 assault rifle from an 80% parts kit he ordered online. Just like the kits Cody Wilson sells. Do they ask you any questions when you're ordering this stuff online? Nope. As long as you're in the States, that's it. I'm gonna help you. Yep. How many guns do you want? About eight or nine. And how many of them are ghost guns? All of them.

That's because Dutch can't buy a traditional firearm. Why can't you buy it? Because I'm not 21. In California, you have to be 21 to purchase any center fire semiautomatic weapons. Dutch and his friends aren't criminals. They're kids. Teenagers, actually. But because IDs aren't required to order ghost guns, the companies don't know or don't care if they're helping underage customers acquire an arsenal like this. Only way to truly eliminate guns is to get rid of the knowledge of guns. Once knowledge is out there, it's out there and you can't control knowledge.

Dutch is right. I've been reporting on black markets for more than 15 years. And guns are a lucrative commodity to the criminal underworld. Every day they're bought, sold and smuggled throughout the United States and around the world. Now that ghost guns can be ordered online and 3D printed at home, I suspect someone somewhere is taking advantage of this. So it's almost 9pm we're heading to meet one of our contacts. He's an American, lives here in la, but is part of a Mexican cartel. His group has been dealing more and more in ghost guns. Apparently they're receiving some sort of shipment tonight. So he's allowed us to come and talk to him and possibly film part of his operation.

This is your helper. This is your lower. These metal parts right here are gonna slide in on the back. So all of the parts in this gun were ordered from online websites. Completely legal, Correct? Everything you get is old illegal. Anybody can get it. I've seen a lot of things in my career, but this is a first. Watching two gang members assemble an arsenal by simply Ordering the parts online, grabbing a few tools, and following the instructions. So this is a completely untraceable gun. If you find this on the streets, there's no way that somebody's going to find out where it came from. Exactly. Calling ghosts because they're untraceable. Actually, it's a win win for everybody.

Well, maybe not everybody, but tiny and flaco are members of the surenas, a violent latin american street gang whose stronghold is in southern california. To arm their gang, they used to have to buy guns from private sellers or straight up steal them. But none of the guns I'm looking at tonight are stova. How often are you selling guns? Every day. And as quick as we build them is as quick as they go out the door. And so now what happens to these guns? They go to the buyer that's on his way. Oh, there's a buyer on his way right now.

I feel a little like. Like, you know what I mean? I don't feel right. Are we good? Are you sure we're good? We're good. 100% good. We're good. We're good. I'm the out of here. Tell the truth. I don't feel. I don't feel good. The buyer is eager to see the merchandise, but less than thrilled about our presence. With my good homeboy, I'm talking to you. Am I good? Yeah, you're good, brother. Let that small off. We're good. I feel a little like. Like, you know what I mean? I don't feel right. Are you sure of it? We're good. 100%. We're good. We're good.

Your stays right here. Just smiles. From my home in Los Angeles, I'm watching a ghost gun deal go down. I'm the guy here. Tell the truth. I don't feel good. Because these guns don't have serial numbers and are effectively untraceable. The buyer pays $3,000. That's three times what similar guns would cost at a legal firearm store tomorrow, my boy. All right, fellas. Appreciate the business. Do you worry about what ends up happening with these guns? I mean, it's not our business game we're in. It's a game I'm only beginning to understand. The following day, Flaco tells me to meet him 100 miles outside the city. I find him waiting for me in a stolen pickup truck with another sureno he calls problem.

But the most explosive intel he shares is that the buyers I saw last night are in police custody. So they use. They use the guns. Basically, they shot at other people. With those guns? Yep. And they were arrested? Yep. Didn't you guys get concerned that that might lead back to you guys? It's a ghost gun. They don't know where it came from, who he came from, who built it. No serial numbers, no traces. And do you know, did anyone get hurt? I mean, if he got in trouble, it's because he probably either injured or killed somebody. Could be.

Would you sell him a gun again if he's out here again? Money. Money packs. Flaco tells me the demand for his products are skyrocketing. In fact, he's out here in the middle of nowhere for a very specific reason. Quality control. We come out, test them, make sure everything functions, Then we can put the word out here, this is what we got. Flacco reminds me that in his world, if a weapon doesn't work as advertised, the buyer's gonna come looking for the seller, and he's gonna be pissed.

I mean, I know this is the middle of the desert, but there's also a lot of people around shooting their own guns. This is not somewhere that makes you nervous. We blend right in. They're right. The canyon is crawling with legal gun owners. These two gangsters are hiding in plain sight. But they're not shooting for fun like Dutch and his buddies. They're making sure these weapons are primed for future gang hits. We're all here with everybody else. It just looks like we're doing what they're doing. Having fun. In your guys case, running a business. An illegal business.

In this case, it's only illegal if you get caught. Getting caught isn't something these two worry about. They already have buyers waiting for them in the city. It's hard for me to imagine ghost guns aren't having an impact in America's rising gun violence. The industry is ripe for exploitation, But a true black market isn't built on backyard operations. You need to scale up. And I've heard rumors that something much bigger is taking place right here in the rocky mountains.

When I started looking into this story, I didn't ever imagine that I would end up in Denver. Not a place that you think when you think of guns or gangs, but it might be the center of an interstate pipeline that proves ghost guns are the future of American gun trafficking. So quite the setup you have here. And who these guys all work with you? They're acquaintances. And they're here to make sure that we're doing the right thing. Denver isn't my usual beat, so I had some colleagues connect me with this man.

By day, he's the owner of a retail store that sells toys, T shirts, and custom sneakers. But at night, he runs a black market business out of the back office. As for the other men in the room, I'm not so sure. So I provide accessories that are custom built. This here, it's a silencer kit. A silencer kit. Correct. Holy moly. Not everyone knows how to. How to do it. One little degree off and you shoot that and it will explode. And this is completely illegal? Correct. How did you come up with this idea? I like to provide something that people are going to want.

There's a reason why I'm here. That reason is guns. Getting a ghost gun is easy, but not as easy as I've been led to believe. California has some of the country's most restrictive gun laws. There's all kinds of hardware that ghost gun companies can't ship into the states. But I saw those outlawed parts in action. Colorado's laws are looser. And I suspect criminals are using Denver as a kind of way station or weapons depot. The nexus of a larger pipeline. Who's buying this from you? Have you sold to criminals?

Well, let me tell you, I work in a way that is way beyond the normal thinking, so. I love how you're going in circles and not wanting to tell me what the business is. My contact may be connected to the pipeline I'm searching for, but with some black market operators, if you push too far, they clam up. The reason that the ghost guns are untraceable is because we're not going around talking about it to everybody. My line of work takes trust. But here I'm a stranger in a strange town. I reach back out to my colleagues for another way in.

Apparently, he's waiting for us on the side of the road somewhere here. Yeah, he says he's here already. Do you guys see him? I don't see anyone. I think it's him riding. Yeah, I think this is him. Hi. Hello. How are you? How are you? So nice to finally meet you. Yeah. How you doing? Who are we meeting tonight? We're gonna go meet a couple of my homies. This is what they do. He has customers that will blow your mind. Really? His name is Abel. Back in Miami, he was a gang member who ran with a violent crew. After spending several years in jail, Abel moved to Denver, hoping to leave his criminal past behind. But his connections to the black market remain strong. And tonight, he's taking me to meet a gun trafficker.

Him and his brother, they're surenos. Oh, he's a Sureno? Yeah. So that's a Mexican cartel? Basically. Yeah, yeah. That operates everywhere. Heavily here in the US as well. Yeah. Though the Surenos have their strongest presence in Southern California, the gang is believed to have some 30,000 members spread across 35 states. Are the Soudenos big in Denver right now? From what I see, yeah. And why is it, why do you think there's such a demand for these guns? Because people do a lot of dumb and nobody wants to be held accountable for that. Is that him? Yep, that's him.

Okay, that's our guy. It's okay to get out? Yeah, yeah. Let's go. Abel's contact asked me to call him Johnny. And confirms that he is in fact a Sureno. This is just stuff that me and my brother kind of 3D print, like all the plastic parts and everything. The barrels are all steel and stuff like that. So it looks like 100% legit when we actually sell it. Do you mind putting the gun down? Only because we're. It's making me really nervous with the light and people passing. But you're not, you're okay here? Yeah, I'm good. Yeah.

I don't know. We're under an underpass with cars passing and I'm getting super nervous. So this is all 3D plastic? Yeah, this is all everything. This is, this is, this is, this is. And then everything but the barrel even. These are 3D printed and stuff. So can I hold it? Yeah, absolutely. It's unloaded and everything, so. Wow. So this is an ar. No, this is actually a tactical shotgun. We do ARS as well and we do pistols.

So this seems to be what everybody's wanting all over the country right now. So really the shotguns is whatever Johnny says. He and his brother can make modified shotguns similar to this one for 2 to 300 bucks and sell them for roughly a grand. They use a 3D printer and order other parts via 80% bill kits to create a wide range of ghost guns. Just like Dutch and his buddies.

And even though Johnny is an ex con who isn't legally permitted to own firearms, the laws around ghost guns are so easy to outsmart that Johnny now prints three to four guns every couple days. And where do you get like the drawings for the what to print? Where do you think Johnny gets them from? From Cody Wilson's company, defense distributor. That's where we get a lot of our blueprints and stuff like that.

Cuz they're readily available online. Why do you think these guns are so popular? Because they're disposable you can go rob a bank with it and then throw it away. Even if they find the weapon, it's not going to be traced to you or anything like that. Do you think that the guns you're selling are being used to kill? It's inevitable. Things end up in the wrong hands. These guns aren't ending up in the wrong hands. Those hands are reaching out to Johnny and he's eagerly supplying them.

You don't really lose a length of sleep over it. You don't? No. Why not? Those people don't pay my bills. The guns pay my bills. Johnny isn't just a gun trafficker. He's a gangster. He was born into the Surenos. His family has been a part of the gang for generations. But I'm surprised to discover Johnny actually grew up in la, mere miles from where I saw Flaco's operation. So this is a weird question, but we actually.

I know a group that I was filming with last week in LA that coincidentally came to Denver to buy ghost guns. This group, they're called the. After talking to Johnny for a while, I had a hunch that maybe he knew Tiny and Flaco. And when I asked, he tells me that not only does he know them, he in fact does business with them.

So they buy guns for you guys? Yeah, absolutely. For sure. Wow, that's crazy. Small world. Yeah, it's a small world. I can't believe that. So I guess you guys are the people to buy guns from if you're coming to Denver. Yeah, absolutely. I'm genuinely shocked by this trafficking pipeline, one that connects the Rocky Mountains to downtown Los Angeles. Arming gang members all along the way. Johnny says his printing operation goes even further than that. Supplying ghost guns to the Midwest and even to Mexico's cartels.

What about groups? Scarier groups than gangs even. Like, what about. Have you. Like hats? Yeah, yeah. Actually, I wasn't going to ask that, but have you? Yeah, absolutely. A lot of times. A lot of the police officers that I've sold to are part of militant groups like militias and stuff like that. There's quite a few groups that stockpile ammo and stuff. It's a frightening admission, one that dovetails perfectly with something Cody Wilson said.

And who are your customers? Who's buying this stuff? It's always hard to characterize them, but they still older men, decent technical experience. Maybe there's some military experience, but in general, that sweet spot of that January 6th rioter, probably you know, someone like that. It's clear to me now that the entire Ghost Gun industry is helping create a violent black market, one that may be spreading beyond the streets. People have used improvised firearms for years to defend themselves against tyranny. Those guns are going to be extremely important to us.

The number of attacks by anti government groups are at the highest they've been in decades. Today there are some 500 of them in the United States with thousands of members. The ones I've arranged to meet tonight belong to the Boogaloo boys. And what is it about the government that you don't agree with? I don't like having to live like constantly with their knee on my neck. The Boogaloo movement started online in 2010 as a loose collection of extreme voices preparing for a second civil war. What they nicknamed the boogaloo.

But by 2020, members took their outrage offline and onto the streets, showing up armed and wearing bright Hawaiian shirts at various protests across the country. They bring guns, they don't like the police and they're attracted to chaos. Violence wasn't far behind. A self avowed Boogaloo member fired what's called a ghost gun connected to the deaths of two officers. They came to Oakland to kill cops. A plan to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Is there a point that you guys see that you will need to use your guns against the government and the police if they come at us in a violent manner? Hopefully that day comes January 6th. That should have been way more extreme. Are you serious? Oh, yeah. So as an American citizen, myself, and being at home that day and watching the news and seeing people attacking our democracy was incredibly shocking and sad. It was a really sad day for me. So to hear you say that you want this to happen again with armed people next time is troubling to me.

I'm trying to be able to survive and be useful in the event people decide to take it up a notch from January 6th. And you would join the people that were taking it up a notch? Oh, yeah. Oh, happily neither. All of this sounds like anarchy. It sounds like America's criminals have discovered the perfect weapon. One that they can use against rival gangs, the government, and even the people closest to us.

There's a man shooting on campus. You hear gunfire in a rural area. That's nothing. That's just as part of the environment. But there was something about this one that made it different. It was the morning of November 14, 2017. What Fourth grade teacher Ken Yours didn't know was that by the time he heard gunfire, the shooter had already murdered his his own wife and two neighbors. 91 1. Someone's been shot. He got, he shot my uncle initially. We opened the door. Which way did he go? And was heading towards the elementary school.

The gunman smashed through the school's gates and opened fire with a semi automatic assault rifle. My senses were completely overwhelmed with what was going down. This is an actual attack on our school. This guy has an AR15. I can't even explain it. They're shooting at Rancho to him. There's a white truck ramming me, all kinds of gunfire. And then I heard him just opening up on that quad area. A bunch of gun shots are going off. People are yelling, help.

You're going through a shooting. And seconds matter. And the police are minutes away. Not even minutes. I mean 15, 20 minutes of such a long time to be at the mercy of a maniac. Six year old Alejandro Hernandez was huddled inside his kindergarten classroom while the gunman was firing through the walls and windows, opening fire at seven different locations. Semiautomatic rifle in hand, fired at least 30 rounds. Once police began chasing the shooter, Alejandro's mother received an urgent call from the school.

First she told me, sit down. In the moment when she told me, sit down, I, yeah, I knew there was something, you know, happening. Hi, guys. It's really all power. I have a son as well, the same age. And it's, I think, the biggest worry, the most scary thing for every mom's father's mind for this moment. You never know when it will happen. Alejandro Hernandez took two direct hits. Thankfully he survived. But I didn't come to Rancho Tehama to learn more about the murders. I came here to prove a point about the murder weapon.

I do believe in the second Amendment, but I come to find out later, he had been told back In January of 2017, Judge told me, you need to turn in all your weapons. He wasn't allowed to own a gun. Correct. He was not allowed to own a gun. Like the gangsters I met, the Rancho Tejama gunman wasn't allowed to possess a firearm. But because gun parts aren't regulated like guns, he was able to order a ghost gun online.

It's a game. Why can't I play this game? If this is in fact a game, then we're the ones being played. Shots fired, multiple outside a Manhattan night. Open the door and he starts shooting at us. Hey, we need an ambulance immediately. Okay. How many shots did you hear? What we accidentally did was create the second Amendment. If it didn't exist beforehand, if there's a right to keep and bear arms, whatever that means, you've got it, sure, but so does everyone else. And that's not what America's founding fathers intended. There's a difference between a free marketplace and a free for all.

Honestly, like, it's all about business. It's all about money. Ironically, it was the gangsters I met who were the most honest about the impact of the ghost gun industry. Do you think the gun manufacturers feel threatened at all by the fact that these are becoming so popular? Not at all. They make too much money. You know, they actually sell to places like Cabela's or like other stores or whatever. Appreciate the business. This is more just a means that if you can't get it, you can't get it type thing.

I couldn't agree more. From what I've seen, ghost guns are like a black market disguised as a legal one. And that's not something to cheer. Unless you think guns belong in the hands of gangsters, underage kids, or extremists trying to overthrow our government.

Do you wish that there were clearer laws in place? Absolutely. I think there's certain people that have lost their privilege to possess a firearm. Search war. Today, the United States Department of Justice is making it illegal to manufacture one of these kits without a serial number. Illegal. Though the Biden administration is attempting to regulate the sale of at home build kits, experts fear this won't make much difference because the parts themselves remain legal and available.

Price of freedom. If it means that everyone gets to have a gun equally, it's worth paying the price. It's time for Americans to ask themselves. A shooting outside a Manhattan nightclub. How many shots did you hear? Is this a price we're willing to pay?

TECHNOLOGY, POLITICS, GUN CONTROL, GHOST GUNS, 3D PRINTING, CRIME, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC