Law enforcement in Florida is sounding the alarm: teenagers and convicted felons are buying “ghost gun” parts online, assembling them at home, and using them in crimes – with little to stop them on the front end.
That’s the core finding of a months-long investigation by Jennifer Titus and the 10 Tampa Bay News team, who spoke with grieving families, police chiefs, detectives, and forensic experts while documenting how easy the online pipeline can be for anyone determined to bypass a background check.
Florida, Titus notes, now ranks fifth nationally for ghost guns recovered at crime scenes. That’s a staggering metric when you consider how minimal the online gatekeeping still is in many places.
And it’s not just Florida’s problem.
How The Pipeline Works, According To Investigators
Titus shows how the playbook looks in real life.
Buyers go to a website selling incomplete frames or receivers, often marketed as “80%” components or full parts kits. They click through a simple age-verification checkbox, enter a credit card, and wait for a box to arrive.
No serial number. No background check. No traditional paper trail for police to follow if the weapon shows up at a crime scene.
Forensic expert Max Houck told Titus that kits range from one-shot firearms to builds that function like an AK-style rifle. In his words, these home-built guns are “just as lethal as regular firearms,” and their presence at crime scenes “is only increasing.”
Detective John Melton of the Tarpon Springs Police Department walked Titus through a case in which officers recovered a rifle built from a lower receiver and jig kit ordered online.
The receipt had the buyer’s name – yet when that buyer is a convicted felon, Melton said the parts transaction itself typically wasn’t captured by the traditional gun-sales system. That’s because the part shipped to the door wasn’t legally considered a finished “firearm” at the time of purchase.
It’s a loophole that’s been exploited across the country, Melton warned, and he expects ghost guns to keep turning up in police work.
Teenagers, Tragedy, And A Father’s Test
The investigation starts with the unthinkable: a California school shooting that claimed the life of 15-year-old Gracie Muehlberger.
Her father, Bryan Muehlberger, described to Titus the moment he learned from a surgeon that his daughter hadn’t survived. The raw grief in his account is almost impossible to read without stopping to breathe.
Then came the awful detail: the firearm used was a “ghost gun” assembled from a kit – something a 16-year-old could easily order online.
Muehlberger told Titus he had never heard the term “ghost gun” until his daughter’s death. He later tested the system himself, placing an order in his daughter’s name to see how hard it would be. He simply checked a box to confirm age and finished the purchase.
That experience led him to sue the federal government, pressing for stronger regulation of kits and unfinished frames.
Titus explains that there’s been back-and-forth at the federal level for years. According to her reporting, the Supreme Court recently affirmed that certain unfinished frames, receivers, and weapons parts kits can be treated as “firearms” for regulatory purposes – meaning serial numbers, background checks, and recordkeeping apply when those parts cross a certain threshold of completion.
But as Titus demonstrates, many sites still rely on basic age verification, with no background check prompt before checkout.
That gap is where harm keeps happening.
The Scale: Kids Are Getting Them, And So Are Felons
Titus’ team pulled the latest figures available from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and found that in 2023 more than 2,000 kids under 17 were found with ghost guns.
Looking at 2022 and 2023 together, more than 2,300 juveniles under 17 were linked to ghost gun possession. Remember: minors can’t buy firearms in stores. But they can order parts online, assemble a functioning weapon, and in too many cases bring that gun to school, into neighborhoods, or into bedrooms where curiosity turns deadly.
Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey told Titus about a 14- to 15-year-old who had been quietly gathering parts in his room for a year. The boy’s mother didn’t realize ammunition was also present.
The teen built a ghost gun – and tragically lost his life handling it. Currey’s view is blunt: a child can’t walk into a gun store and buy a pistol, but a child can still assemble one from a kit. He believes that’s a loophole, and he believes it should be closed.
On the felon side, Titus recounts the story of California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Moye Jr., killed during a 2019 traffic stop. The gunman, killed in a shootout, was a convicted felon with a long record. Police say the rifle used in that attack was made from parts ordered online.
Speaking with Titus, Moye’s family, who strongly support the Second Amendment, said there should be at least some kind of stop preventing a convicted felon from clicking “buy” on a kit that can be turned into a working firearm.
Detective Melton’s Florida case shows how that looks on paper. A felon orders an 80% lower and a jig. A package arrives. The build happens privately. Later, a crime occurs – and investigators find a gun with no serial number and a parts receipt bearing the builder’s name.
Melton told Titus that he sees nothing in the current parts-ordering process that reliably blocks this. And he expects more of it.
The Law: What Changed, What Didn’t
Titus emphasizes a key legal development: a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that allowed the federal government to treat certain unfinished frames, receivers, and parts kits as firearms if they’re far enough along in the manufacturing process.
That brings serial numbers, dealer recordkeeping, and background checks into the mix for items that cross the line from “inert block” to “readily convertible firearm component.”
The devil, of course, is in the details.
Sites still sell components they assert are below that threshold. Many ask only for a checkbox confirming you’re an adult. Titus and her team tested multiple vendors and said not one required a background check before purchase. That leaves law enforcement playing catch-up after the fact.
Some states have tried to fill the gap by banning or tightly regulating ghost guns. Florida hasn’t. And detectives and chiefs in Titus’ reporting say the difference shows up in their caseloads.
My view: when the pathway to an untraceable gun is easier than buying allergy medicine, we’ve designed a system that invites tragedy – both accidental and criminal.
The Human Cost Behind The Numbers
Statistics don’t capture what Bryan Muehlberger lives with every day. In Titus’ interview, he talked about the “visceral” pain of losing Gracie, the sound he made when the surgeon told him the team couldn’t save her.
His test order – placing a kit in his deceased daughter’s name – wasn’t a stunt. It was a father trying to understand how a child could have armed himself so easily.
Likewise, the Moye family spoke with Titus about Andre’s dream of public service. They keep his helmet, his photo, and his memory alive while asking a practical question: if we accept robust background checks at gun counters, why shrug when a convicted felon can assemble a comparable rifle from a box of parts?
Max Houck’s perspective adds another layer. As a forensic scientist, he sees the aftermath: guns with no serial numbers, no purchase records, and no conventional trail for investigators to follow.
The more of these guns circulate, the more cases will go unsolved—or take longer to solve – because the first question in any gun crime (“Who bought this?”) has no ready answer.
What Responsible Access Could Look Like
Titus doesn’t argue against the hobbyist tradition of building firearms. Chief Currey acknowledges that adults have many pursuits, including gun building. The sticking point is whether minors and prohibited persons can still get kits and components as easily as ordering a sweatshirt.
There are sensible guardrails that protect rights and public safety at the same time:
- Treat completed or readily convertible core components like firearms, with serial numbers and background checks at sale.
- Require age verification that’s stronger than a checkbox.
- Clarify federal standards so sellers know when a part crosses the line – and so bad-faith actors can’t hide behind ambiguity.
- Preserve lawful home-building for eligible adults while shutting the door to kids and felons.
None of that criminalizes responsible owners. It simply brings the riskiest doorway under the same umbrella rules we already accept at the gun counter.
Where Titus Leaves Us
Jennifer Titus’ reporting paints a comprehensive, sobering picture. Kids are getting kits. Felons are getting kits. Florida ranks high for ghost guns recovered at crime scenes. And even after a major Supreme Court ruling, many online sellers still require little more than a click.
Chief David Currey calls it a loophole. Detective John Melton expects more cases. Max Houck says the forensic footprint is growing.
Michael Moye and Richard Solorio carry the grief of a fallen officer. And Bryan Muehlberger, speaking as a father, puts it this way: it’s easy to argue from one side – until you find yourself on the other.
If we’re serious about keeping guns out of the hands of kids and prohibited people, this is where the work is. Tighten the front door. Keep the rights of law-abiding adults intact. And stop pretending a checkbox is enough.
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A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.