SAN DIEGO — San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan is pushing for more severe criminal penalties for ghost gun offenses, citing the ease with which untraceable firearms can be manufactured and the danger they pose to public safety.
Ghost guns—unserialized and untraceable weapons often created through 3D printers or online kits—continue to threaten communities across San Diego County despite law enforcement efforts to remove them from streets.
The issue came into sharp focus in June 2023 when convicted felon J.C. Sartor used a ghost gun to shoot San Diego police officer James Romero in City Heights. Sartor was later sentenced to nearly 40 years in prison for attempted murder. According to Stephan, these weapons are alarmingly accessible to dangerous individuals…