The Santa Clara DA’s office said the 18-year-old could face prison time if convicted.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — An 18-year-old man from Santa Jose, California, is accused of making nearly 30 “ghost” guns in his bedroom.
Jacob Reyes was arrested on suspicion of felony charges of “possession of a machine gun, other related felonies, and charges related to unlicensed manufacturing of firearms using a 3D printer,” the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office stated in a news release.
The DA’s press release alleged the Reyes had two 3D printers creating weapons in his room and “near his Air Jordan sneaker collection.” The office said 27 guns were finished or “almost finished” in the room, and several were modified to function like machine guns.
“There is a black market of weapons thriving right under our noses,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release. “Once again, the DA’s investigators and their law enforcement partners have taken off the streets an arsenal of untraceable, illegal, and deadly weapons.”
All but one gun found in the home was printed, according to the release.
The DA’s office said Reyes faces prison time if convicted but did not specify how much he could face.
What are ghost guns?
Ghost guns are any privately made firearms without the serial numbers that allow police to trace weapons used in crime.
They have been used in high-profile crimes, including a mass shooting carried out with an AR-15-style ghost gun in Philadelphia that left five people dead. Police believe a ghost gun used in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in Manhattan was made on a 3D printer rather than assembled from a kit.
The number of ghost guns found at crime scenes around the country has also soared, according to federal data. Fewer than 1,700 were recovered by law enforcement in 2017, but that number grew to 27,000 in 2023, according to Justice Department data.