Colorado law enforcement agencies raising awareness on circulation of ghost guns

Law enforcement agencies in Colorado are running a new campaign to raise awareness about the rise in "ghost guns" and violence in the community.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for Colorado, the ATF and the Denver Police Department released a public service announcement talking about the consequences of making ghost guns and also shared the story of Saul Ramirez Escobedo. 

Ramirez Escobedo, a now convicted felon, started building ghost guns when the pandemic started after a relative recruited him to buy gun parts and make weapons. Soon he was selling these ghost guns on the streets. 

"So basically, ghost guns, are guns that you cannot track," Ramirez Escobedo said. "When he had come to me, he told me he just needed help, he didn't explain to me why, he just asked me for help, and I was more than willing to help him. And I guess sometimes when you're too nice to bad people, you can end up in bad situations." 

Ghost guns are weapons that can be pieced together at home from parts bought online and don't have serial numbers. 

That bad situation led Ramirez Escobedo to eventually be arrested. He pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and is currently on probation.

"I started noticing the social media, how there's killings everywhere, like firearms, drive-bys, and that made me pretty sad. I was thinking about that, and I was like that could be one of the guns I potentially sold to somebody," he said. 

Last year 20,000 ghost guns were confiscated by police in the U.S. In Colorado in 2021, at least 166 ghost guns were taken by police, which is a huge jump from only 67 in 2019.

"We will use all available tools to tackle gun violence, we remain committed to saving innocent lives, by enforcing federal firearms laws," said Cole Finegan in the public service announcement, the U.S. attorney for Colorado. 

Ramirez Escobedo hopes his story will bring change to the violence happening around the state, making people think twice before they mess with ghost guns.

"Think about what you do before you do it, because there's always consequences for what you do," he said. 

The relative that got Ramirez involved with ghost guns is Luis Marquez. 

Marquez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deal firearms without a license, and possession with intent to distribute meth. He was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison.