03x03 - Ghost g*ns

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

♪ It hurts to be told when
you're not very old ♪

MARIANA: Americans and
g*ns go hand in hand.

♪ An outlaw's son ♪

MARIANA: 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.

COWBOY: We're surrounded
by a sea of wonderful
products to buy.

♪ The son of a g*n ♪

MARIANA: Today, the US has
nearly 400 million firearms

in circulation.

It's the only country
in the world with more
g*ns 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 g*n laws.

They're called ghost g*ns.

Unlicensed, untraceable,
and easy to assemble at home.

CODY: Almost everything
you see here is just
printed on a 3D printer.

MARIANA: Do they ask
you any questions?

MARIANA: I want to know who's
making them, who's buying them.

Have you sold to criminals?

MARIANA: And how these weapons
are getting into the hands of

America's most violent gangs.

CODY: This is a world
you will have to live in.

There's no going back.

(g*nshots)

(theme music plays)

RYAN: We're searching for
ammunition and firearms.

No one inside of this house
has any g*ns registered to

them, but there's likely
several g*ns inside of here.

We don't necessarily
anticipate any violence,

but they are meth users and the
dope game is unpredictable.

MARIANA: Welcome to the
frontlines of the fight

against ghost g*ns.

Detective Ryan Swetavage is a
member of the Alameda County

Sheriff's Office
g*ng 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 g*ns.

RYAN: So when we pull up
in front of the house,

try to stay behind a vehicle,

so you're a little bit
more protected.

MARIANA: Okay.
In case there are shots fired?

RYAN: Correct.

Okay. Here we go.

♪ ♪

(knocking)

This is the Alameda
County Sheriff's Office!

Come to the front door
with nothing in your hands!

Come on down the stairs.

MARIANA: Oh,
somebody just came out.

MAN: Oh, my God.

MARIANA: Over the next couple
hours, the team locates an

impressive weapons cache.

That was inside?

RYAN: Yeah.
MARIANA: That long one too?

RYAN: 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 g*n.

There's no serial
number on that plate.

MARIANA: So it's a
ghost g*n, as well?

RYAN: Correct, yeah.

MARIANA: This is
a critical point.

Ghost g*ns are weapons
without serial numbers,

untraceable g*ns, which
pose an enormous challenge

for cops investigating
g*n violence.

That's crazy.

Did you think you were
going to find so many g*ns?

RYAN: I didn't think we're
going to find this many.

I mean, right here, just what
we found so far, you know,

about 30% of the g*ns
here are ghosN g*ns.

MARIANA: This is not
an isolated incident.

ill*gal ghost g*n recoveries
are accelerating and there's

a disturbing reason why.

REPORTER (over TV): The
13-year-old was allegedly
selling ghost g*ns.

POLICE (over TV): You can
manufacture your own g*n.

REPORTER (over TV):
And build something
that could k*ll people.

MARIANA: Right now, there are
more than 80 companies

selling ghost g*ns.

MAN: Straight to your door.

MARIANA: 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.

WOMAN: This is how I've built
mine, how will you build yours?

RYAN: This is basically
an AR-15 r*fle that's been

converted to fire
handgun ammunition,

nine-millimeter ammunition.

In this case, we ex*cuted a
search warrant on someone who

was manufacturing these g*ns
and likely selling them to

g*ng members.

MARIANA: But you found somebody
making their own AR-15s

to sell to g*ng members on the
streets of the United States?

RYAN: Correct, yeah.

If he's going to put g*ns in
the hands of g*ng members,

he absolutely should not
have that anything.

MARIANA: And it's ghost g*n
technology like this that's

making it possible.

RYAN: This actual
device is a mill.

It's an electronic mill.

So you plug that in to a
laptop or any sort of computer

and with a software
that you can download,

you can finish firearms.

MARIANA: The operation they
busted earlier tonight was

using hand drills and
dremels to make ghost g*ns.

RYAN: These are just
regular hand tools.

MARIANA: Somewhat primitive
compared to this machine,

which allows someone
to professionally mill

metal g*n parts at home.

So do you mind if I look for,

I'm trying to figure out
what company makes this.

RYAN: No.
Go for it.

MARIANA: 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.

Had you seen this?

RYAN: No, I didn't see that.

MARIANA: A little more
poking around reveals that the

machine is manufactured by
"Defense Distributed,"

a company based 1,500
miles away in Austin, Texas.

CODY: 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 here.

MARIANA: Really,
all of it is here?

CODY: Uh-hmm.

You would never know that, you
know, but that's just a little

gift of love from us to you.

MARIANA: This looks like
a Star Wars g*n almost. Right?

CODY: This is, careful where
you point that, but this is

J Stark's FGC.

MARIANA: Oh,
this is the, sorry.

CODY: Here's your barrel. Yeah.
This is J Stark's FGC-9.

This is the Mark II.

MARIANA: Oh.

CODY: This is (bleep) g*n
Control, nine 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.

MARIANA: A decade ago,
3D-printed g*ns like this

were the stuff of
science fiction.

CODY: When I see this g*n, I
see the fulfillment of the

things that I was doing.

MARIANA: So
you're proud of it.

CODY: I enjoy it.
I love it. Yeah.

It's, I look at it
more like a child.

MARIANA: 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...

REPORTER (over TV):
Cody Wilson.

REPORTER 2 (over TV):
Cody Wilson.

REPORTER 3 (over TV):
Cody Wilson.

MARIANA: He's the director
of Defense Distributed,

one of the country's leading
ghost g*n manufacturers.

CODY: If you can run a computer,
you can run a ghost g*n.

MARIANA: Some say Cody
is a g*n rights activist.

CODY: As long as you have the
right to keep and bear arms,

you have the
right to make them.

MARIANA: Others
call him an anarchist.

REPORTER (over TV): This is
about weapons of w*r being made

in people's living rooms.

CODY: There would be nothing
ill*gal about even felons or

other people getting it.

MARIANA: Wired magazine
once labeled him one of

"the 15 most dangerous
people in the world."

RICHARD: The new wave of
American g*n violence.

MARIANA: That's because Cody
Wilson was the first person to

build a fully functional,
3D-printed firearm.

CODY: I didn't know
how to print a g*n.

I didn't know how
to use a 3D printer.

MARIANA: Uh-hmm.

CODY: But I knew
what I wanted to do.

I wanted to make
a Wiki Weapon.

I wanted to,
WikiLeaks for g*ns.

MARIANA: 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 g*ns that you printed?

CODY: I would say it's one of
the first three Liberators.

MARIANA: Oh, the
first three. Wow.

CODY: Ever printed...

MARIANA: And did you,
did you actually go out
and sh**t this one?

CODY: Yeah. You can, in fact,
you can still see the dust
and the grime and the uh...

MARIANA: You can. Yeah.

CODY: The expl*sive
pNwder burns.

MARIANA: Uh-hmm.

CODY: And this
thing has been fired.

MARIANA: In fact, in May of
2013, Cody posted a video of

himself successfully
test-firing the Liberator,

then uploaded the g*n's
design onto the web,

making it accessible
to anyone online,

including criminals
and t*rrorists.

It was downloaded
nearly 100,000 times.

Were you surprised?

CODY: Yeah.
I was like, "Wow. Okay."

I'm, I'm thrown into this
world just like you are now.

We live in a world of 3D g*ns.

MARIANA: It's a world the U.S.
Government wasn't happy about,

so they accused Cody of
illegally trafficking
weapons overseas.

CODY: 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 A*F
says this is a firearm.

MARIANA: Uh-hmm. What do
you think of that line?

CODY: If the A*F
wants to redraw the line.

MARIANA: Uh-hmm.

CODY: We'll
redraw the line too.

MARIANA: Cody sued
the U.S. Government and

they ultimately backed down.

So your defense
was, it's the right...

CODY: Yeah.

MARIANA: Of free speech to be
able to put out this code that
makes these g*ns.

CODY: Uh-hmm.
Yeah, exactly.

It's a game.
Why can't I play this game?

MARIANA: Right now, the
rules of the game say that

any American company
selling g*ns needs

a Federal Firearms
License or FFL.

Ghost g*n companies don't.

Because they argue,
they're not selling g*ns,

they're selling parts.

Online, I can buy all
these parts from you?

Everything?

CODY: Everything you see.

MARIANA: And then I
can put it together?

It all comes down
to a surprisingly
complicated question.

What exactly is a g*n?

Every firearm is made
up of multiple parts.

Some parts are metal,
others are plastic.

But the U.S. Government
doesn't regulate

pieces of plastic and metal.

CODY: Who, who can determine,
and by what means,

when a piece of metal is a g*n,

is more like a g*n
than not a g*n, right?

So a bureaucrat looks at a g*n
and says, this is when this

becomes a g*n.

This is when
this becomes a g*n.

And these things have no
real relation to each other.

MARIANA: For the moment,
federal law has decided that

the firearm frame, or lower
receiver, is in fact what

makes a g*n.

And once a series of holes
are drilled into the frame,

it becomes a working firearm
and worthy of regulation.

That's how ghost g*n 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...

CODY: Yeah.

MARIANA: We know that there
are a lot more of ghost g*ns.

CODY: Yeah.

MARIANA: Showing
up in crime scenes.

REPORTER (over TV): The
epidemic of g*n violence
gripping America.

REPORTER (over TV):
He built this g*n.

REPORTER (over TV): Last year,
more than 20,000 people were

k*lled by a firearm in
the United States.

MARIANA: How do
you feel about that?

CODY: 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?

♪ ♪

CODY: This is how you
buy, like, a whole GL*CK.

But 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.

MARIANA: So, the lower
receiver isn't here.

CODY: You, you know, you've got
one, your one step removed.

Your lower is on a USB.

MARIANA: Wow.
CODY: Think about it.

MARIANA: All right.
That, this is so crazy to me.

So, you buy this, you've
got all the parts you need.

CODY: Yeah.

MARIANA: Except for the lower
receiver which, usually,
it's the registered part.

CODY: Yeah, yeah.
MARIANA: But guess what?

CODY: Yeah.

MARIANA: You have a
USB that will teach
you how to make a g*n.

I'm trying to understand how
ghost g*ns 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 g*n industry.

So, if the federal government,

if the authorities
were to open this.

CODY: Yeah.

MARIANA: They, everything
is legal here right now.

CODY: I don't see a g*n in here.
I don't see a g*n, sorry.

Nothing in here
looks regulated to me.

MARIANA: So it's a way of
trying to skirt the law?

CODY: I think it's, you know,
more, it's more grand than
that, right?

MARIANA: Uh-hmm.

CODY: It's a way of
making the law pointless.

This changes the balance of
power between the state and

between the individual.

Cheap available g*ns.
Downloadable g*ns.

3D-printed g*ns.
g*ns with no serial numbers.

This is a world you
will have to live in.

You know, like,
there's no going back.

MARIANA: Cody Wilson 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 g*ns.

He advocates for immunity
from any government oversight.

But would a world without
meaningful g*n laws

increase freedom or
just fuel anarchy?

How do you feel about the fact
that ghost g*ns are being used

to commit crimes, to
k*ll innocent people?

CODY: g*ns k*ll people.

You know, this is what
makes them effective,
politically interesting.

MARIANA: Right. But there's
a reason why they're using
ghost g*ns, right?

Because they are untraceable,

because they're easy,
they're easy.

CODY: Oh, look, I agree.

MARIANA: You can make, you
still haven't answered my
question though.

How do you feel?

CODY: 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.

MARIANA: I think a lot
of people would find that

incredibly dangerous,
as I'm sure you know.

CODY: Yeah, well,
I'm an American.

You know?
Move to Finland.

♪ ♪

♪ It hurts to be told ♪

♪ When you're not very old ♪

♪ That you're an outlaw's son ♪

♪ And that you're
the son of a g*n ♪

MARIANA: It's already
incredibly easy to get a g*n

in the U.S.

So I want to understand who's
buying ghost g*ns and why.

♪ ♪

Wow, that's a lot
of weapons, huh?

MARIANA: Can I hold it?

MARIANA: It's, oh wow.

So it's all, it's 3D-printed,
what part of it's, it's the
lower receiver?

MARIANA: Do you have a
machine, the 3D printer?

MARIANA: And then the rest is
just parts that you bought.

MARIANA: My contact tells
me to call him "Dutch."

He says he built this AR-15
as*ault r*fle from an

80% parts kit he ordered online,

just like the kits
Cody Wilson sells.

(g*nshots)

Do they ask you any questions
when you're ordering this
stuff online?

MARIANA: That's it?
DUTCH: Yup.

MARIANA: How many
g*ns do you own?

MARIANA: And how many
of them are ghost g*ns?

MARIANA: That's because Dutch
can't buy a traditional firearm.

Why can't you buy it?

MARIANA: Dutch and his
friends aren't criminals,

they're kids,
teenagers actually.

But because IDs aren't
required to order ghost g*ns,

the companies don't know, or
don't care, if they're helping

underage customers
acquire an arsenal like this.

MARIANA: Dutch is right.

I've been reporting on black
markets for more than 15 years

and g*ns 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 g*ns can
be ordered online and
3D-printed at home,

I suspect someone, somewhere
is taking advantage of this.

So it's almost 9:00 PM.

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, in ghost g*ns.

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.

MARIANA: So all of the parts
in this g*n were ordered from

online websites,
completely legal?

MARIANA: I've seen a lot of
things in my career,

but this is a first.

Watching two g*ng members
assemble an arsenal by simply

ordering the parts online,
grabbing a few tools,

and following the instructions.

So this is a
completely untraceable g*n?

If you find this on the
streets, there's no way that

somebody's going to find
out where it came from?

MARIANA: Well, maybe not
everybody, but Tiny and Flaco

are members of the Surenos,

a violent Latin-American
street g*ng

whose stronghold is
in Southern California.

To arm their g*ng, they
used to have to buy g*ns from

private sellers or
straight up steal them,

but none of the g*ns I'm
looking at tonight are stolen.

How often are
you selling g*ns?

MARIANA: And so, now
what happens to these g*ns?

MARIANA: Oh, there's a
buyer on his way right now?

MARIANA: The buyer is eager
to see the merchandise,

but less than thrilled
about our presence.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Just miles from
my home in Los Angeles,

I'm watching a ghost
g*n deal go down.

MARIANA: Because these g*ns
don't have serial numbers and

are effectively untraceable,
the buyer pays $3,000.

That's three times what
similar g*ns would cost

at a legal firearms store.

(rapping in Spanish).

MARIANA: Do you worry
about what ends up
happening with these g*ns?

I mean...

MARIANA: 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 expl*sive intel
he shares is that the buyers

I saw last night are
in police custody.

Oh, my.

So they used,
they used the g*ns?

Basically, they shot at other
people with those g*ns?

MARIANA: And
they were arrested?

MARIANA: Didn't you guys
get concerned that that might
lead back to you guys?

FLACO: No.

MARIANA: And do you know,
did anyone get hurt?

I mean, if he got in trouble,
it's because he probably

either injured or
k*lled somebody.

MARIANA: Would you
sell him a g*n again?

MARIANA: 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.

(g*nsh*t)

MARIANA: Flaco reminds me
that in his world, if a weapon

doesn't work as advertised,
the buyer is going to come

looking for the seller and
he's going to be pissed.

I mean, I know this is the
middle of the desert,

but there's also a lot of people
around sh**ting their own g*ns.

FLACO: Uh-hmm.

MARIANA: This is not somewhere
that makes you nervous?

MARIANA: They're right,
the canyon is crawling
with legal g*n owners.

These two gangsters are
hiding in plain sight.

But they're not sh**ting for
fun, like Dutch and his buddies.

They're making sure these
weapons are primed for

future g*ng hits.

(g*nshots)

MARIANA: In your guy's case,
running a business.

(g*nshots)

An ill*gal
business in this case.

MARIANA: Getting caught isn't
something these two worry about.

They already have buyers
waiting for them in the city.

♪ Oh! ♪

♪ I got to make me a g*n ♪

MARIANA: It's hard for me
to imagine ghost g*ns aren't

having an impact in
America's rising g*n violence.

The industry is ripe for
exploitation, but a true

black market isn't built on
backyard operations.

You need to scale up.

♪ Hit me, not for fun,
I got to make me a g*n ♪

♪ Clearly not for fun, I
got to make me a g*n ♪

MARIANA: 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.

It's not a place that you
think of when you think of

g*ns or gangs.

But it might be the center of
an interstate pipeline that

proves ghosts g*ns
are the future of
American g*n trafficking.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: So quite the
setup you have here.

And who, these guys
all work with you?

MARIANA: 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.

MARIANA: Uh-hmm.

MARIANA: A sil*ncer kit?

MARIANA: Holy moly.

MARIANA: And this is
completely ill*gal.

MARIANA: How did you
come up with this idea?

MARIANA: That reason is g*ns.

Getting a ghost g*n is easy,

but not as easy as I've
been led to believe.

California has some
of the country's most
restrictive g*n laws.

There's all kinds of hardware
that ghost g*n companies can't

ship into the States, but I saw
those outlawed parts in action.

(g*nshots)

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.

And who's buying
this, this from you?

Have you sold to criminals?

MARIANA: I love how you're
going, you're going in circles

and not wanting to tell me
about what the business is.

My contacts may be connected to
the pipeline I'm searching for,

but with some black
market operators,

if you push too far,
they clam up.

MARIANA: 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.

Oh, I think it's
him right here.

Yeah.

I think this is him.

Hi.

ABEL: Hello.
MARIANA: How are you?

ABEL: How are you?

MARIANA: So nice to
finally meet you.

ABEL: Yeah.
How you doing?

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Who are
we meeting tonight?

ABEL: We're going to go
meet a couple of my homies.

This is what they do.

He has customers that
will blow your mind.

MARIANA: Really?

His name is Abel.

Back in Miami, he was
a g*ng 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 g*n trafficker.

ABEL: Him and his brother,
they're Surenos.

MARIANA: Oh, he's a Sureno?

ABEL: Yeah.

MARIANA: So that's a
Mexican cartel, basically?

ABEL: Yeah, yeah.

MARIANA: That operates.
ABEL: Everywhere.

MARIANA: Heavily here
in the U.S., as well.

ABEL: Yeah.

MARIANA: Though the Surenos
have their strongest presence

in Southern California, the
g*ng is believed to have some

30,000 members
spread across 35 states.

Are the Surenos big
in Denver right now?

ABEL: From what I see, yeah.

MARIANA: And why is it?

Why do you think there's such
a demand for, for these g*ns?

ABEL: Because people do
a lot of dumb (bleep).

And nobody wants to be
held accountable for that.

MARIANA: Is that him?

ABEL: Yup. That's him.

MARIANA: Okay.
That's our guy.

It's okay to get out?

ABEL: Yeah, yeah.
Let's go.

MARIANA: Abel's contact
asked me to call him "Johnny".

JOHNNY: Yo.

MARIANA: And confirms that
he is, in fact, a Sureno.

MARIANA: Do you mind
putting the g*n down?

Only because we're, it's
making me really nervous.

MARIANA: With the light and
people passing but you're not.

JOHNNY: Yeah, you're good.
MARIANA: You're okay here?

MARIANA: I don't know.

We're under an underpass
with cars passing, and
I'm getting super nervous.

JOHNNY: Yeah. For sure.

MARIANA: So this is all 3D.

JOHNNY: The plastic, yeah.
Everything.

MARIANA: This is all plastic?

MARIANA: Oh, wow.
Doesn't look plastic at all.

MARIANA: Can I hold it?

MARIANA: Wow.
So this is an AR?

MARIANA: Really, the
shotguns is what every.

MARIANA: Johnny and his
brother print these shotguns

for 200 to 300 bucks, then they
sell them for roughly a grand.

They use a 3D printer and
order the other parts via

80% build kits, 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 g*ns
are so easy to outsmart,

that Johnny now prints three to
four g*ns every couple days.

And where do you get, like,
the, the, the drawings for

the, what to print?

Where do you think
Johnny gets them from?

From Cody Wilson's company,
Defense Distributed.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Why do you think
these g*ns are so popular?

MARIANA: Do you think that
the g*ns you're selling
are being used to k*ll?

JOHNNY: Yeah.

MARIANA: These g*ns aren't
"ending up" in the wrong hands.

Those hands are reaching
out to Johnny and he's
eagerly supplying them.

MARIANA: You don't?

MARIANA: Why not?

MARIANA: Johnny isn't just a g*n
trafficker, he's a gangster.

He was born into the Surenos.

His family has been a part
of the g*ng 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 g*ns.

This group, they're
called the (bleep).

After talking to Johnny for
a while, I had a hunch that

maybe he knew Tiny and Flaco.

And when I ask, he tells me
not only does he know them,

he, in fact, does
business with them.

So they buy g*ns
from you guys?

MARIANA: Wow, that's crazy.

MARIANA: Yeah.
It's a small world.

I can't believe that.

So I guess you guys are the
people to buy g*ns from if
you're coming to Denver?

MARIANA: I'm genuinely shocked
by this trafficking pipeline,

one that connects
the Rocky Mountains to
Downtown Los Angeles,

arming g*ng members
all along the way.

Johnny says his printing
operation goes even further

than that, supplying ghost
g*ns to the Midwest and

even to Mexico's cartels.

What about groups, scarier
groups than gangs, even.

Like what about, have you?

MARIANA: Yeah, yeah.

Actually, I wasn't going
to ask that, but have you?

MARIANA: Wow!
JOHNNY: Yeah.

MARIANA: It's a
frightening admission.

One that dovetails perfectly
with something Cody Wilson said.

And who are your, who
are your customers?

Who's buying this stuff?

CODY: It's always hard to
characterize them, but they

skew older men, decent
technical experience,

maybe there's some military
experience, but in general,

that, that sweet spot of that
January 6th rioter, probably.

You know, someone like that.

(shouting)

MARIANA: It's clear to me
now that the entire ghost g*n

industry is helping create
a violent black market,

one that may be spreading
beyond the streets.

(g*nshots)

MARIANA: The number of attacks
by anti-government groups are

at the highest
they've been in decades.

DUNCAN: Go.

MARIANA: Today, there
are some 500 of them
in the United States.

With thousands of members.

DUNCAN: Set!

(g*nsh*t)

MARIANA: The ones I've
arranged to meet tonight

belong to the Boogaloo Bois.

And what is it about
the government that
you don't agree with?

MARIANA: The Boogaloo movement
started online in 2010 as a

loose collection of extreme
voices preparing for a second

civil w*r, 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.

EXPERT (over computer):
They bring g*ns, they
don't like the police,

and they're attracted to chaos.

MARIANA: Violence
wasn't far behind.

REPORTER (over TV): A
self-avowed Boogaloo member.

REPORTER (over TV): Fired
what's called a ghost g*n.

REPORTER (over TV): Connected
to the deaths of two officers.

MAN (over TV): They
came to Oakland to k*ll cops.

REPORTER (over TV): A plan
to kidnap Michigan Governor
Gretchen Whitmer.

MARIANA: Is there a point that
you guys see that you'll need

to use your g*ns against the
government and the police?

MARIANA: Are you serious?

MARIANA: So, as an American
citizen myself, and being at

home that day, and watching
the news, and seeing people

attacking our democracy, it
was incredibly shocking and sad.

It was a really
sad day for me.

PROTESTERS: Treason!
Treason! Treason!

MARIANA: So to hear you say
that you want this to happen

again with armed people next
time is, is troubling to me.

MARIANA: And you would
join the people that were
taking it up a notch?

(police officer screaming).

MARIANA: 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.

♪ ♪

(g*nshots)

KEN: You hear g*nf*re
in a rural area,

it's nothing that's new.

It's, it's part of
the environment.

But there was something about
this one that made it different.

(g*nshots)

MARIANA: It was the morning
of November 14th, 2017.

What fourth grade teacher
Ken Yuers didn't know was

that by the time he heard
g*nf*re, the sh**ter had

already m*rder*d his own
wife and two neighbors.

OPERATOR (over phone): 911.

WOMAN (over phone):
Someone's been shot.

MAN (over phone): He shot,
he shot my uncle!

MAN (over phone): Initially
we opened the door and he
started sh**ting at us.

MAN (Nver phone): Oh, my God.

OPERATOR (over phone):
Which way did he go?

MARIANA: And was heading
towards the elementary school.

The g*nman smashed through
the school's gates and

opened fire with a
semi-automatic as*ault r*fle.

KEN: My senses were
completely overwhelmed
with what was going down.

This is an actual attack on our
school, this guy has an AR-15.

I can't even explain it.

MAN (over phone): There's
sh**ting at Rancho Tehama.

There's a white
truck ramming the gate.

WOMAN (over phone):
All kinds of g*nf*re.

KEN: And then I heard him just
opening up on that quad area.

WOMAN (over phone): A bunch
of g*nshots are going off,

people are yelling "Help!"

KEN: You're going through a
sh**ting, and seconds matter

and the police are minutes
away, and not even minutes,

I mean 15-20 minutes, it was
such a long time to be at the

mercy of a maniac.

MARIANA: Six-year-old
Alejandro Hernandez was

huddled inside his
kindergarten classroom

while the g*nman was firing
through the walls and windows.

REPORTER (over TV): Opening fir
at seven different locations.

REPORTER (over TV):
Semi-automatic r*fle in hand.

REPORTER (over TV): Fired
at least 30 rounds.

MARIANA: Once police
began chasing the sh**ter,

Alejandro's mother received an
urgent call from the school.

ANGELICA: First she
told me, "Sit down."

And the moment when she told
me to sit down, I, yeah,

I knew there was something,
you know, happening.

ANGELICA: I got shocked,
it was really hard.

MARIANA: I have a son as well,
the same age, and it's,

I think, the biggest worry.

ANGELICA: Yeah.

MARIANA: The most scary
thing for every mom's.

ANGELICA: Uh-hmm.
MARIANA: And father's mind.

ANGELICA: You never
know when it will happen.

MARIANA: 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 m*rder weapon.

KEN: I do believe in
the Second Amendment.

But I come to find out
later he had been told back in

January of 2017,
the judge told him,

"You need to turn in
all your weapons."

MARIANA: He wasn't
allowed to own a g*n?

KEN: Correct! He was not
allowed to own a g*n.

MARIANA: Like the gangsters I
met, the Rancho Tehama g*nman

wasn't allowed to possess a
firearm, but because g*n parts

aren't regulated like g*ns,
he was able to order a
ghost g*n online.

CODY: It's a game.
MARIANA: Uh-hmm.

CODY: Why can't I
play this game?

MARIANA: If this is in
fact a game, then we're
the ones being played.

DISPATCH: Shots fired,
multiple calls coming in.

REPORTER (over TV): A sh**ting
outside a Manhattan night club.

MAN: We opened the door and
he started sh**ting at us.

MAN: Hey. We need an
ambulance, immediately.

OPERATOR (over phone): How
many shots did you hear?

WOMAN (over phone):
Like, four or five.

MAN: No.

(crying)

CODY: 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,

then you've got it.

MARIANA: 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.

MARIANA: Ironically, it was
the gangsters I met who were

the most honest about the impact
of the ghost g*n industry.

Do you think the g*n
manufacturers feel threatened

at all by the fact that
these are becoming so popular?

MARIANA: I couldn't agree more.

From what I've seen, ghost
g*ns are like a black market

disguised as a legal one.

And that's not
something to cheer.

Unless you think g*ns 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?

RYAN: Absolutely.

I, I think there's certain
people that have lost their

privilege to
possess a firearm.

POLICE OFFICER:
Search warrant!

BIDEN: And today, the United
States Department of Justice

is making it ill*gal.

To manufacture one of
these kits without a
serial number, ill*gal.

MARIANA: 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.

MARIANA: It's time for
Americans to ask themselves.

♪ The son of a g*n ♪

(g*nshots)

REPORTER (over TV): A sh**ting
outside a Manhattan night club.

WOMAN (over phone): How many
shots did you hear?

MARIANA: Is this a
price we're willing to pay?