Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wants to make owning and selling ghost guns a felony.

The DA's concerns were shared in a recent interview featured by the New York Daily News.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is backing a new law that would make it a felony to manufacture ghost guns on 3D printers.

The proposed bill is the latest effort by New York authorities to tackle the alarming proliferation of ghost guns.https://t.co/o31nNXPZIa

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 5, 2023

The issue

“We had the ‘Iron Pipeline’ that we were concerned for, then the ‘polymer pipeline’ with the ghost gun parts being shipped in. Now, we have, basically, the kitchen table,” Bragg told the Daily News.

“They’re printing them right at their kitchen table. This [legislation] would make that a felony," he added.

Lawmakers are responding to a surge in gun crimes committed with untraceable firearms, known as ghost guns. "You can sit at your kitchen table and print out weapons of destruction," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Friday https://t.co/pp8UAOlA3z

— Chris Mason (@mason4922) June 5, 2023

The background

"According to the NYPD, there has been a 75% increase in ghost gun seizures in the past year. 20 ghost guns have been recovered at the scenes of homicides or shootings just in Manhattan since the start of 2022," ABC News reported.

"Since the Manhattan district attorney's office began keeping track in 2021, there have been 90 ghost gun prosecutions in the office," it added.

Manhattan DA Bragg backing new law that would make it a felony to manufacture ghost guns on 3D printers https://t.co/Uo75XR3iCl

— (((TallyAnnaE))) ☮️ (@TallyAnnaE) June 5, 2023

"People who own and sell ghost guns are committing a crime — but there’s no law against making the deadly weapons that authorities say are a rising threat to New Yorkers," Raw Story reported.

"Anyone with a 3D printing machine capable of churning out magazines, receivers and other firearm parts can whip up an untraceable semiautomatic weapon in their kitchen in less time than it takes to cook a turkey," it noted.

Second Amendment advocates are concerned that the plans to upgrade the crime to a felony will further punish the rights of American gun owners in the state.

Gun rights groups are expected to push back on the effort, with legal battles likely to follow any change to state law over ghost guns.

The problem adds to several new restrictions Bragg and other leaders in the blue state have sought to add to limit Second Amendment rights, causing concerns for American freedoms in an attempt to lower crime.

The new effort may seek to end violence but may only end up punishing law-abiding citizens in the state.