Privately made firearms recovered from crime scenes and traced by the ATF, 2017-2023

The number of privately made firearms, or "ghost guns," recovered in 2022 and 2023 was 44% higher than the total recovered during the previous five years combined. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives noted that the increase likely reflects both growing production of these types of weapons and improved efforts to identify and trace them.