John J. Gilsenan has extensive criminal defense experience as an Assistant Federal Public Defender and as a state public defender. His experience includes serious New York State gun and drug prosecutions and federal criminal cases involving firearms, drug trafficking, and conspiracy charges. Because ghost-gun investigations can implicate both New York and federal law, this article addresses both systems.
What Is a “Ghost Gun”?
The phrase “ghost gun” generally refers to an unserialized firearm that may have been privately assembled rather than manufactured and serialized in the ordinary commercial process. New York has its own statutory definition. Penal Law § 265.00 defines a ghost gun as a firearm, rifle, or shotgun that does not comply with New York's serialization requirements and is not serialized.
New York separately defines an “unfinished frame or receiver” as unserialized material shaped or formed for the purpose of becoming a firearm frame or receiver and capable of readily being made functional through milling, drilling, or similar means. The distinction matters because New York criminalizes not only certain completed ghost guns but also possession, manufacture, and transfer of unfinished or unserialized frames and receivers.
Possessing a Ghost Gun Can Be a New York Crime
New York law specifically prohibits unauthorized possession of ghost guns and certain unfinished or unserialized frames and receivers. Penal Law § 265.01 includes these forms of possession within Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree when the statutory requirements are met.
But the potential exposure does not necessarily stop with the ghost-gun provision. If the completed weapon is a pistol or other firearm and the circumstances satisfy a more serious possession statute, prosecutors may also consider felony Criminal Possession of a Weapon charges under Article 265. The precise charge can depend on the weapon, whether it was loaded, where and how it was possessed, licensing status, prior convictions, and other facts.
Manufacturing a Ghost Gun Can Carry Felony Exposure in New York
New York separately criminalizes unauthorized manufacture. Penal Law § 265.10 provides that a person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured a ghost gun, unfinished frame or receiver, or certain other regulated weapons or components commits a class D felony.
This means a case involving a home-built firearm can raise issues beyond simple possession. Investigators may examine tools, unfinished receivers, parts, 3-D printers, digital files, purchase records, communications, and evidence concerning assembly or distribution.
Selling or Transferring Ghost Guns and Frames
Article 265 also contains specific offenses involving the sale or transfer of ghost guns and unfinished or unserialized frames and receivers. The seriousness of the offense can increase when multiple weapons or components are involved.
For example, New York has separate first- and second-degree offenses for criminal sale of ghost guns and criminal sale of frames or receivers. These statutes can become important when an investigation alleges that a person was supplying weapons or components to others rather than merely possessing one for personal use.
Federal Law Is Different: An Unserialized Privately Made Firearm Is Not Automatically Illegal
A critical distinction is that New York and federal law are not identical. ATF explains that privately made firearms—often called PMFs or ghost guns—are not all illegal under federal law, and not every privately made firearm must have a serial number merely because an individual made it for personal use.
Federal law does, however, regulate what counts as a firearm or frame or receiver, regulates firearm businesses and transfers, and imposes serialization obligations in specified circumstances. In 2025, the United States Supreme Court in Bondi v. Vanderstok upheld ATF's authority to treat certain weapon-parts kits and partially complete frames or receivers as firearms under the Gun Control Act.
For a person in New York, this distinction is particularly important: conduct that may not amount to a standalone federal crime merely because a personally made firearm lacks a serial number can still violate New York's much stricter ghost-gun laws.
Federal Felon-in-Possession and Other Prohibited-Person Charges
Even when the lack of a serial number is not itself the federal offense, possession of the weapon can create serious federal exposure depending on who possesses it. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), certain prohibited persons—including many people with qualifying felony convictions—may not possess firearms or ammunition in or affecting interstate commerce.
A ghost gun that qualifies as a firearm under federal law can therefore support a prohibited-person prosecution just like a commercially manufactured firearm. Under current federal law, a knowing violation of § 922(g) can carry a statutory maximum of up to 15 years under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(8).
A Removed or Obliterated Serial Number Presents a Different Federal Issue
There is an important legal difference between a firearm that was privately made without a manufacturer's serial number and a commercially manufactured firearm whose serial number was later removed, obliterated, or altered.
18 U.S.C. § 922(k) prohibits specified conduct involving a firearm whose importer's or manufacturer's serial number has been removed, obliterated, or altered, including possession when the required interstate-commerce connection exists. That offense can carry up to five years under § 924(a)(1)(B).
Accordingly, a defense lawyer should determine whether the firearm was originally unserialized or whether a required serial number was physically removed or altered. The two situations are not legally interchangeable.
Ghost Guns Connected to Federal Drug Trafficking Can Create § 924(c) Exposure
A ghost gun can also become part of a much more serious federal prosecution if the government alleges that the firearm was used or carried during and in relation to a federal drug-trafficking crime or possessed in furtherance of one. Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), that allegation can result in a mandatory consecutive prison sentence beginning at five years, with higher minimums in specified circumstances.
The fact that the weapon is privately made does not insulate it from § 924(c). The central issues include whether it qualifies as a firearm and whether the government can prove the required relationship between the firearm and the underlying drug-trafficking offense.
Other Federal Firearm Issues Can Arise
Ghost-gun investigations sometimes uncover items that implicate separate federal statutes, including silencers, short-barreled weapons, machineguns, or machinegun conversion devices. Those items can trigger the National Firearms Act or other federal firearm statutes and should not be treated as ordinary unserialized-pistol cases.
The charges therefore depend on what the object actually is, how it was configured, who possessed it, and what other alleged criminal activity surrounds it.
Search Warrants, Phones, and Digital Evidence
Ghost-gun cases frequently begin with a search warrant for a home, vehicle, package, cell phone, or electronic account. Investigators may seek purchase records, photographs, text messages, social-media communications, 3-D printing files, parts, tools, ammunition, and completed firearms.
Defense counsel should evaluate both possession and the legality and scope of the underlying search. In a New York prosecution, suppression issues may arise under CPL Article 710. In a federal case, Fourth Amendment suppression principles and federal criminal procedure govern. Constructive possession can also become critical when weapons or components are found in a shared residence or vehicle.
Why State and Federal Charging Decisions Matter
The same physical firearm can create very different legal issues depending on whether the case is prosecuted by a New York District Attorney or the United States Attorney. New York directly criminalizes categories of unserialized firearms and unfinished frames or receivers that federal law treats differently. Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, may focus on prohibited-person status, firearms connected to drug trafficking, altered serial numbers, unlawful firearm dealing, or specially regulated weapons.
For someone facing a ghost-gun investigation in Rochester or Western New York, identifying the investigating agency and the potential charging jurisdiction can therefore be an important early part of the defense.
About the Author: John J. Gilsenan
John J. Gilsenan is a criminal defense attorney with extensive experience representing accused people as both a state public defender and an Assistant Federal Public Defender. His New York State practice has included serious felony gun and drug prosecutions, while his federal criminal defense experience includes federal drug cases, conspiracy prosecutions, and firearms cases.
For people searching for a Rochester criminal defense lawyer, federal criminal defense lawyer Rochester NY, Rochester gun charge lawyer, ghost gun attorney Rochester NY, or federal gun charge lawyer Rochester NY, cases involving privately made or unserialized firearms require careful analysis of both the weapon itself and the separate state and federal statutes that may apply.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Ghost-gun and privately made firearm cases are highly fact-specific, and New York and federal law differ significantly. The applicable statutes depend on the weapon, its configuration and serialization history, the possessor's legal status, and the surrounding circumstances.