Luigi Mangione, suspected of killing Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was carrying a “ghost gun” — a type of homemade, untraceable firearm — when he was arrested on Monday (9), according to police.
He had the gun when he was searched by police at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, said New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
The gun was capable of firing a 9mm bullet and “may have been made on a 3D printer,” Kenny explained. This allegation is in line with a criminal complaint in which police reported finding a “3D-printed black pistol” in Mangione’s backpack.
Investigators also recovered a silencer — a device that muffles the sound of gunshots —, according to authorities.
The case has raised for debate the issue of ghost guns, which have made countless headlines in recent years in the United States, as tens of thousands have been recovered from violent crime scenes across the country.
Homemade and untraceable firearm
There are two main attributes to ghost guns, often referred to by authorities as “privately manufactured firearms” or PMFs.
First, ghost guns do not have serial numbers, which makes them effectively untraceable and hampers police’s ability to check a gun’s history when recovered at a crime scene.
Second, they do not require a criminal background check, allowing buyers to bypass typical requirements they may face when purchasing a firearm.
Until recently, ghost guns were typically built using kits sold online. So in 2022, the Biden administration instituted a new rule requiring that these kits include serial numbers and that background checks be done.
However, some ghost guns can be printed or use 3D printed parts.
See photos of Luigi Mangione, suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO
Either way, the untraceable nature of ghost guns makes them “especially attractive to dangerous and prohibited persons,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“They have become the weapon of choice for people who would otherwise be prohibited from purchasing guns legally,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law, the litigation arm of the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
“This includes criminals, convicts who cannot go into a gun store and buy a gun, and also teenagers who are too young to purchase guns,” he warned;
Privately made firearms can also be built by amateurs, warned John DeVito, former special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in New York and New Jersey, noting that it is legally permissible for anyone to build their own. own firearm.
However, it is not permitted to manufacture weapons for sale without a license, and privately manufactured firearms are a problem when they become “crime weapons”, according to the expert.
“What we saw repeatedly over the years as these kits became more common and easier to use…we were discovering factories in someone’s living room where they were making hundreds of these privately made firearms, or ghost guns. , and then selling them to individuals on the street,” he said.
Ghost Guns Could Use 3D Printed Parts
Ghost guns that use 3D-printed components tend to be less reliable than those that use factory-made components, according to Stephen Gutowski, a reporter for TheReload.com and contributor to CNN.
In the case of Thompson’s murder, Gutowski cited video of the moment of the murder showing that the gun apparently jammed, forcing the shooter to repair it.
“He seemed to know it was going to fail,” commented the expert.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the gun found in Mangione’s backpack was the weapon used to kill Brian Thompson — confirmation will depend on ballistic testing, according to the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives.
Still, 3D-printed guns remain the domain of enthusiasts, Gutowski noted.
“Most people who build non-serialized weapons, including criminals, use kits with prefabricated, unfinished parts. They tend to be easier to assemble and operate reliably,” said the expert.
It remains to be seen whether 3D-printed ghost guns will become more common following the Biden administration’s new regulations, but that is “certainly a concern,” according to Tirschwell.
Printing a gun isn’t as easy as buying a kit, he noted. You need to have access to a 3D printer and know how to obtain the necessary plans.
Still, he considered that “this will be a new frontier in [relação às] homemade weapons that requires and, I hope, will be met with more regulation.”
Thousands of “ghost guns” have been found in recent years
It is impossible to know how many ghost guns there are and the number is likely overshadowed by the number of commercially made firearms, which are manufactured by the millions each year in the United States.
However, some agencies track how many ghost guns are recovered from crime scenes. When Joe Biden’s administration announced its new regulations on the matter, the White House reported that 20,000 suspected ghost guns were reported to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2021, “a tenfold increase in compared to 2016”.
Nationally, more than 45,000 privately manufactured firearms were reported to have been found at crime scenes between 2016 and 2021, according to the agency.
In 2022, the US Department of Justice reported having recovered 25,000 devices in the country.
Major ruling pending in “ghost gun” case
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, 15 US states regulate ghost guns.
Many, like California, require serial numbers and criminal background checks for parts purchases.
But there have also been measures at the federal level — namely the Biden administration’s regulations introduced in 2022, which are currently the subject of a lawsuit debated at the US Supreme Court in October.
Manufacturers and advocacy groups challenged the rule, claiming it violated a 1968 law that required manufacturers and dealers to do background checks, keep sales records and include serial numbers on firearms. The kits are not weapons but parts, they argued.
A decision in the case is not expected for several months. However, during oral arguments, the justices — including several conservatives — signaled a willingness to uphold the rule.
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the measure to go into effect while litigation continues, and in the meantime, some jurisdictions have seen a decline in the number of ghost guns being recovered from crime scenes.
Several states and cities reported drops in seizures in a brief sent to the U.S. Supreme Court by state attorneys general in support of the Biden administration’s regulations.
“While this data is limited, it is indicative of the real-world impact the Final Rule is having and the critical public safety interests it advances,” the summary assesses.
Regardless, Luigi Mangione’s arrest has renewed calls for more to be done to crack down on the use of ghost guns, including from the mayor of the city where he allegedly killed Thompson.
“They are extremely dangerous, and we need to do more at the federal level to crack down on the availability of ghost guns,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams.
This content was originally published in “Ghost weapon” may have been used in the assassination of CEO in the USA; understand on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil

Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.