How many years you can get for a ghost gun depends on what you did with it, whether you were legally allowed to own a firearm in the first place, and whether another crime was involved. Federal sentences run from up to 5 years for unlicensed manufacturing to up to 15 years for prohibited possession, trafficking, or straw purchasing. When a ghost gun is used during a violent crime or drug offense, mandatory add-ons of 5 to 30 years stack on top of the sentence for the underlying crime. There is no standalone federal crime for building a ghost gun for your own personal use, so prosecutors charge these cases under the general firearms statutes, and the specific statute drives the number.
Up to 15 Years for Possession by a Prohibited Person
The most common federal ghost gun charge targets people who aren’t legally allowed to own any firearm. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, people under certain restraining orders, unlawful drug users, and several other categories can’t possess a firearm of any kind, serialized or not. The maximum is 15 years in prison.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
That ceiling was raised from 10 years by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022. Because ghost guns bypass the background check system, they’ve become a common way for prohibited individuals to obtain firearms, and federal prosecutors pursue these cases aggressively.
Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, some defendants have challenged this prohibition on Second Amendment grounds. At least one federal appeals court has found the law unconstitutional as applied to a nonviolent offender, though the broader prohibition remains in effect for most categories of prohibited persons.
Up to 5 Years for Unlicensed Manufacturing
Making a ghost gun for your own personal use is legal under federal law, as long as you aren’t a prohibited person and the gun is detectable by metal detectors. You don’t need to add a serial number or register it with anyone.2Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Privately Made Firearms
Manufacturing firearms for sale or distribution without a federal firearms license is a different story. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a), unlicensed manufacturing carries up to 5 years in prison.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties The line between making a few guns as a hobby and “engaging in the business” isn’t always obvious, and the ATF has prosecuted people who sold even a handful of homemade firearms.
Possessing a firearm whose serial number has been removed or altered is a separate 5-year offense under 18 U.S.C. § 922(k).3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts It applies to guns that once had a number which was later scraped off rather than guns that were never serialized, but it often gets stacked onto ghost gun cases when the facts fit.
Up to 25 Years for Trafficking and Straw Purchases
Selling or transferring a firearm to someone you know or have reason to believe can’t legally possess one carries up to 15 years under 18 U.S.C. § 933, a statute created by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 933 – Trafficking in Firearms The law doesn’t require the firearms to be unserialized, but ghost guns are frequently charged under it because the lack of serial numbers makes the transactions harder to trace.
Buying a firearm on behalf of someone else, or lying on the federal background check form about who the gun is really for, is straw purchasing under 18 U.S.C. § 932. The maximum is 15 years, but if the straw purchase is connected to a felony, federal terrorism, or drug trafficking, the ceiling jumps to 25 years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms
Mandatory Add-Ons When the Ghost Gun Is Used in Another Crime
The harshest federal sentences come when a ghost gun is used during a violent crime or drug trafficking offense. Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), these mandatory minimums are served on top of whatever sentence the underlying crime carries, and they must run consecutively, not concurrently:1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
- Possessing or carrying during the crime: at least 5 years
- Brandishing the firearm: at least 7 years
- Firing the weapon: at least 10 years
- Second or subsequent § 924(c) conviction: at least 25 years
- Machinegun or destructive device involved: at least 30 years, or life if it’s a second offense
Put concretely: a person who commits an armed robbery with a ghost gun and fires it faces the robbery sentence plus a mandatory 10 additional years that can’t overlap with it. If the person has a prior § 924(c) conviction, the mandatory add-on becomes 25 years. These enhancements are where ghost gun cases routinely turn from single-digit sentences into decades behind bars.
What Pushes the Number Higher
Criminal history is the single biggest driver. A prohibited person caught with a ghost gun already faces the 15-year possession maximum. If that person has three prior violent felony or serious drug crime convictions, the Armed Career Criminal Act under § 924(e) imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum, meaning the judge has no discretion to go lower.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
Volume and intent matter too. Someone caught with a single unserialized firearm faces very different exposure than someone manufacturing dozens for street sales. Trafficking multiple ghost guns, especially to buyers who can’t legally own firearms, triggers the most serious federal charges. Prosecutors treat the deliberate choice of untraceable weapons as evidence of sophistication, which influences both charging decisions and sentencing recommendations.
Charge stacking is the practical reality in most ghost gun cases. A single incident can produce a possession charge, an unlicensed manufacturing charge, a § 922(k) charge for an obliterated serial number, and a § 924(c) enhancement, each carrying its own sentence. The totals add up fast.
State Penalties Stack on Top
About 16 states have enacted laws specifically targeting ghost guns. The rest rely on general firearms statutes, which means possessing an unserialized homemade gun may not be a state crime at all unless another offense is involved.
States that regulate ghost guns typically require owners to serialize homemade firearms through a state agency and may mandate background checks for parts kits. Some require existing ghost guns to be reported to law enforcement. Noncompliance is often a misdemeanor for a first offense and can escalate to a felony for repeated violations, though the specific penalties differ by jurisdiction.
State charges don’t replace federal ones. A person caught with a ghost gun in a state with strict serialization laws can face prosecution in both systems, and federal and state authorities regularly coordinate on firearms cases. Because the two sentencing systems are independent, the combined prison time can far exceed what either would impose alone.