Baltimore man accused of 3D printing multiple ghost guns
BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore man arrested Wednesday is accused of 3D printing at least 20 ghost guns in Southeast Baltimore, police said.
Kevin Wallace, 49, is charged with several firearms-related offenses. Police said he has an "extensive criminal background that includes first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and burglary, malicious destruction of property, felony and misdemeanor drug convictions."
Ghost guns are unserialized homemade handguns that can be brought in parts. Because they are unserialized, the guns are impossible to trace.
A social media post prompted an investigation that lead to a search and seizure warrant being obtained. Baltimore Police Department SWAT executed the warrant Wednesday in the 400 block of North Rose Street in the McElderry Park neighborhood.
Among the items seized were:
- 20 Polymer80 handguns in various stages of assembly
- Polymer80 gun manufacturing equipment
- 3D printer with supplies
- multiple rolls of colored printer filament
- 3D-printed gun parts
Among pictures released by police were colorful printed guns and a Christmas tree adorned with weapons, including a pistol and brass knuckles. An assault-style rifle appears to be under the tree.
Baltimore Police said they recovered 9 ghost guns in 2019. The next year, the department said 29 ghost guns had been recovered. In 2020, 126 ghost guns were recovered, and in 2021, 352 were recovered
This year, 477 ghost guns were recovered, according to BPD Commissioner Michael Harrison.
"These guns are extremely hard to trace and difficult to tie to murders and they have no place in our city," Harrison said in a statement. "This is a truly outstanding achievement. I applaud the tireless and meaningful efforts of SWAT, our District Detectives and the entire BPD Team. We must continue to see to it that Polymer80 and other manufacturers of build kits cannot create a marketplace of untraceable, easy-to-obtain weapons.