Two Falconer residents face weapons after Jamestown police officers allegedly found a ghost gun during a traffic stop.

According to a police report, Caden L. Barrett, 20, of Falconer and Airianna A. Parkhurst, 19, of Falconer were charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon (Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device) and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (Ghost Gun) at 3:04 p.m. Thursday. Police report pulling a vehicle over on Falconer Street near Thayer Street for traffic infractions. A search of the vehicle resulted in police allegedly finding an unregistered handgun with a high capacity magazine. The gun was later determined to be a ghost gun.

Barrett and Parkhurst were charged and taken to the city jail until they could be arraigned in Jamestown City Court.

Ghost guns are any privately made firearms without the serial numbers that allow police to trace weapons used in crime. The 2022 regulation was focused on kits sold online with everything needed to build a functioning firearm — sometimes in less than 30 minutes, according to court documents.

There have been relatively few publicized charges involving ghost guns in Chautauqua County since the state Legislature criminalized possession of ghost guns in 2021. Legislation S.13A/A.2666A prohibits the possession and sale of unfinished frames or receivers by anyone other than a licensed gunsmith or dealer in firearms. Unfinished receivers are used to form the lower part of a firearm and can be easily combined with other pieces, even by someone with little experience, to make a fully functioning semi-automatic weapon. It also prohibits the possession and sale of unserialized finished frames and receivers by anyone other than a licensed gunsmith or dealer in firearms.

Legislation S.14A/A.613A prohibits the sale of ghost guns and requires gunsmiths and dealers in firearms to register and serialize firearms and unfinished frames or receivers they possess. Ghost guns are guns that are unregistered and do not have serial numbers, making them incredibly difficult for law enforcement to trace. These weapons often end up in the hands of purchasers with a criminal record or others who would not pass a required federal background check.

Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, D-New City, introduced legislation in 2021 (S.7259) in the Senate that would have added instances where someone is charged with a crime that involves the use of a machine gun, firearm silencer, firearm, rifle, shotgun, disguised gun, ghost gun or assault weapon for felony court to bail laws. That legislation never made it to the Senate floor.

In late March, the Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration regulation on ghost guns, clearing the way for continued serial numbers, background checks and age verification requirements for buying the kits online. The 7-2 opinion found that existing gun laws allow regulation of the kits increasingly linked to crime. It comes after President Donald Trump ordered a review of federal gun policy that could undermine or reverse regulations championed by his predecessor, according to the Associated Press.

Sales of the homemade firearms grew exponentially as kits allowing for easy at-home building came into the market, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.

“Some home hobbyists enjoy assembling them. But criminals also find them attractive,” he said.

The number of ghost guns found at crime scenes around the country has also soared, according to federal data. Fewer than 1,700 were recovered by law enforcement in 2017, but that number grew to 27,000 in 2023, according to Justice Department data reported by the Associated Press. Since the federal rule was finalized, though, ghost gun numbers have flattened out or declined in several major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Baltimore, according to court documents. Manufacturing of miscellaneous gun parts also dropped 36% overall, the Justice Department has said.

In a dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that ghost gun kits are only firearm parts and shouldn’t be subject to a regulation that could open the door to rules on other popular weapons.

“Congress could have authorized ATF to regulate any part of a firearm or any object readily convertible into one,” he wrote. “But, it did not.”

Justice Samuel Alito also filed his own dissent.