City police report that they have seized 31 ghost guns during the first three weeks of the year, which puts the department on pace to seize 700 this year. And last year, Commissioner Michael Harrison reported that at least 69 acts of violence were traced to the 345 ghost guns recovered, and there's a lot more where they came from. According to the advocacy group Moms Demand Action, more than 12,000 ghost gun kits were shipped to Maryland between 2016 and 2019.

he weapons used were purchased just seven months earlier. In other words, the rise in gun sales during the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the subsequent rise in shootings.

easy access to such lethal weapons—particularly those that can't be traced—is clearly a factor in the recent uptick of violence