Residents respond after Hollister police locate several ghost guns

HOLLISTER, Calif. (KION) In the past three weeks, Hollister Police reported have obtained four different ghost guns. One linked to a shooting last Saturday night. But, what exactly is a ghost gun? KION asked Hollister residents if they knew what a ghost gun was, their response varied.

“No I have never heard of that,” said Briana Allan.  And Misty Trindade, also a no, “ I have never heard of ghost guns.” But, Rebecca Gutierrez, did know and in short mentioned, “Guns that have no serial numbers.”

That’s correct! Ghost guns are weapons that don’t have serial numbers associated with them, unlike traditional firearms, making them untraceable and undetectable. Most can be put together at home, almost like a DIY project, if you will.

“People will obtain pieces of guns through the internet maybe or other illegal sources like that,” said Hollister Police Sergeant Don Pershall.

But, that can become a problem when linking the weapons back to a suspect. Hollister Police, in just a short time span, have found four ghost guns, on different people, at different crime scenes.

“A couple of them we found on juveniles, just contacts. One was, I believe at a traffic stop. We found another one at a crime scene or a shooting,” continued Pershall. 

After explaining this, residents shared mixed reactions. “Its very concerning, as a mother,” Gutierrez. “Pretty Concerned,” Trindade. “Not surprised! I just know that certain gun restrictions have gone into place and so it’s just not surprising that you’re going to have people rebel against that,” said Allan. 

Hollister Police say they have seen an uptick in the presence of these type of firearms. Sergeant Pershall mentioned, there was also a report of a resident who found a ghost gun dumped in their their backyard, at an unknown time. Pershall continued to say, it’s Important to get any weapon off the street that is being carried illegally, especially those that can’t be traced