NEW: We 3D-printed a glock to see how far homemade guns have come. trib.al/GcdOa9A
We even ended up taking third place in the 3D-printed pistol category at the “Gun Maker’s Match” in Florida, the first-ever shooting competition exclusively for home-assembled firearms. trib.al/GcdOa9A
3D-printed guns have advanced radically since the first ones were printed in 2013, becoming easier to make and more reliable.
Now, the sudden proliferation of ghost guns is prompting alarm among law enforcement nationwide. trib.al/GcdOa9A
Nearly 24,000 “privately-made firearms” were recovered at crime scenes from 2016-2020, according to a DOJ report obtained by The Trace, and the number of cases where felons and other “prohibited persons” were found with such guns doubled in a single year. trib.al/GcdOa9A
Ghost guns have also turned up in the hands of white supremacists and far-right extremists, including a self-proclaimed Boogaloo Boi who pleaded guilty last month to possession of 3D-printed machine gun parts and a homemade silencer. trib.al/GcdOa9A
Building our ghost glock was a lot of work—it took around 22 hours from start to finish. Making a fully-functioning semi-auto handgun from plastic and a few metal parts, it turns out, is totally legal (at least in Florida). trib.al/GcdOa9A
The most common and controversial ghost guns cost a few hundred dollars online and come “80 percent” finished in a box with all the necessary tools. The Biden administration is moving to regulate these kits. trib.al/GcdOa9A
But even if “80 percent” kits are regulated, anyone with access to a printer, a few hundred dollars, and some free time will still be able to crank out a semi-auto pistol, one with no paper trail to identify the owner. trib.al/GcdOa9A
The drug market is absolutely flooded with fentanyl right now. trib.al/H08njh0
Post-lockdown, social drug users are facing a new normal where cocaine, meth, ecstasy, and other social drugs are increasingly tainted by fentanyl, raising the risk of overdoses and death. trib.al/H08njh0
Overdose deaths soared nearly 30 percent from 2019 to more than 93,000 in 2020, according to preliminary CDC data released in July. This sharp increase was driven by fentanyl. trib.al/H08njh0
NEW: The Biden administration is considering reviving Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy for migrants. trib.al/fhrJmyk
Faced with the highest number of migrants crossing the U.S.’ southwestern border in 21 years, senior Biden administration officials are embracing some of Trump’s most hard-line policies and considering whether to adopt others. trib.al/fhrJmyk
In the biggest about-face, senior U.S. officials have privately discussed reviving the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy to manage the number of migrants arriving at the border, according to three sources with knowledge of the discussions. trib.al/fhrJmyk
“I'm living something I didn't believe," said Celice Chandler, a COVID patient who’s still choosing not to get the vaccine. trib.al/xNWLEwf
Arkansas has one of the lowest COVID vaccination rates in the country. VICE News embedded at a hospital in Little Rock where patients facing the threat of death still won’t get the shot. trib.al/xNWLEwf
“The second pandemic is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Dr. Nikhil Meena told VICE News. “People were more rescuable in the first pandemic.” trib.al/xNWLEwf
"My dad thinks the absolute hell we went through, where 9 of the victims were in our class, is a hoax..." trib.al/kMuJ6os
Bill’s final semester at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was already difficult enough.
He was part of the final graduating class of survivors of the 2018 shooting. 17 people were killed, 9 of whom were Bill’s classmates. trib.al/kMuJ6os
But Bill also had to deal with his father’s daily accusations that the shooting was a hoax and that Bill, his classmates, and the shooter were paid pawns in a grand conspiracy orchestrated by some shadowy force. trib.al/kMuJ6os
At 14, "White Boy Rick" Wershe was the youngest-known FBI informant in U.S. history.
Wershe alleges that cops coerced him into it, and then “used, abused, reused, and re-abused” him. trib.al/XrQqVqR
Now 52, Wershe is going after the same officials he says encouraged him to sell drugs in the first place. He spent nearly 33 years in prison before being released in July 2020. trib.al/XrQqVqR
Wershe’s story—which is chronicled in the 2018 film “White Boy Rick” and the 2017 true-crime documentary “White Boy”—began in 1984. trib.al/XrQqVqR