Teens buying ghost guns online, with deadly consequences

As unserialized firearms proliferate on the streets, teens discover the ease of obtaining weapons they couldn’t get from a licensed dealer.

At 18, Zachary Burkard was too young to buy a handgun from a licensed gun store, and he was an admitted drug dealer with mental health issues, court records show. So he went to the website of 80P Builder, a seller of “ghost gun” parts with no serial numbers, bought a gun kit and assembled a complete pistol himself.

About two months later, Burkard watched a fistfight unfold between two schoolmates at a friend’s house. He entered the Springfield, Va., home’s garage and began shooting. Ersheen Elaiaiser and Calvin Van Pelt, both 17, were killed by bullets from Burkard’s homemade ghost gun. Neither of the victims was armed. Van Pelt was shot twice in the back as he ran away.

“They’ve just made it entirely too easy to get these guns,” said Winfield, sitting next to his wife, who during a recent interview wore a necklace with a picture of their late son smiling.

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