Police consistently recover kind of gun allegedly used in UnitedHealthcare CEO's death; no WI laws regulate 3D printed weapons

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with murder in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, apparently had a ghost gun, a type of firearm that can be made at home. 

Lt. Joshua Hecker, with the Kenosha Police Department, says they consistently recover these kinds of weapons. 

“We seize them often. We seize them during search warrants, we seize them during traffic stops," Hecker said. “There’s been a steady trend of us finding them.”

Hecker said nine of the 202 guns the Kenosha Police Department collected in 2024 were Polymer 80 guns, which is around 4% of the total number of guns collected.

"They’re called many different things - ghost guns, P80s, polymer guns," Hecker said.

According to CBS News, a privately made firearm, more commonly known as a ghost gun, is a firearm that has been assembled or completed by people other than licensed manufacturers, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Ghost guns can be made using a 3D printer or assembled from a kit.

They're made without a serial number, which can make them difficult to track. Not all ghost guns are illegal, and not all firearms are required to have a serial number. 

Federal Rules on 3D printed guns are limited. However, 14 states have enacted legislation to regulate printing of guns, and 16 states have a ban on ghost guns, including New York. Wisconsin is not one of those states. 

Tim Osswald was a professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison before he retired this year. With expertise in 3D printing, he said it's easy to be able to make a weapon out of the technology available, which can be dangerous. 

"It's basically accessible to anybody," Osswald said, “3D printing is a great way to democratize and make it accessible to everybody, but unfortunately, there is a dark side.”

CBS 58 reached out to other police departments aiming to gain further context on the amount of ghost guns recovered yearly in the state.

Deputy Chief Chad Melby, with the Racine Police Department, said between 5-10% of guns used in a crime that are recovered by the Racine Police Department are ghost guns.