sbsheriff
Source: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff’s detectives have arrested a Goleta man for an attempted murder hours after the crime occurred. On Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at approximately 8:12 a.m., Sheriff’s deputies responded to the first block of south Kellogg Avenue along with fire and medics for a stabbing that had just occurred. When deputies arrived, they learned that the suspect had fled the area and the adult male victim had been stabbed several times in the upper torso. The victim was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with serious injuries.
Deputies along with County Air Support and a K9 unit conducted a thorough search of the area for the suspect but did not locate him in the immediate vicinity. Sheriff’s detectives quickly began an investigation into the identity and location of the suspect. Through their investigation, detectives identified the suspect as 41-year-old Rafael Castro Jr. of Goleta and learned that he was familiar with the victim. Detectives tracked Castro to the 100-block of Orange Avenue where he was taken into custody at approximately 11:14 a.m. without further incident. When detectives searched Castro, they found an un-serialized “Ghost” gun on his person.
Castro was booked at the Main Jail for attempted murder (felony), felon in possession of a firearm (felony), and prohibited possession of ammunition (felony). He is being held on $1,000,000 bail. The victim is expected to recover from his injuries.
Of course I’m pleased that a suspect was arrested, and hope the victim heals well.
But —
The source of this report is the Sheriff’s office. It seems to be a press release. There is zero mention of the role of the dog in the photos.
This is blatant pandering that I resent.
TJ – so up until now it was/is legal to carry guns with no serial #s? Where are the pro-lifers now? SMH.
A ghost gun is different from an altered gun. An altered gun has a serial number put onto the gun by a licensed manufacturer that has been ground off, or otherwise removed. A ghost gun is manufactured directly by the end user and by law needs no serial number unless it is sold or transfered to someone else. Problem is that if you are a felon, you cannot possess a gun even if you make it yourelf. Also you may need to prove you made the firearm yourself. My guess is these are preferred because carrying a stolen weapon, or an altered weapon is a larger sentence than possession of a unserialized firearm.
They need to fix that.
Anyone with a CNC mill and some software can make a piece of aluminum and a parts kit into a working firearm. Same goes for anyone with a 3D printer, some software in your want to go plastic
SacJon
I’m pro life, accept CA abortion laws, think owning a gun is a @A right, but know we have to figure out Ghost Guns
Federal law has always allowed private eligible (no felony etc) citizens to make their own guns and they did not have to put a serial number on it unless sold or transferred. This was not a problem for centuries, but technology like CNC mills, 3D printers and the open source software to drive them to make guns became ubiquitous recently and quickly reached a tipping point. The most well known company is the aptly named “Ghost Gunner” and they won a court battle that says the software is not illegal to possess or distribute, you can download it for free from 10000’s of sites. You can run the software off a website and never download it if you are worried. The genie was out of the bottle in 2014. There is a very very very limited market from legit gun owners for a plastic gun, but a large lucrative market for these to criminals, so of course some people are going to make money by buying a mill or 3d printer, some raw materials and fire it up in the garage and sell to gangsters. Demand met by supply.
The Sheriff’s press release is using a dog photo, which is effective advertising. There is no mention of a K-9 unit in the press release. That’s what makes it pandering, to the public, in support of the department and therefore its boss.
4:44, I agree. It’s both information and selling Sheriff Brown.
I meant to say the dog photo is just a selling point. No mention of how a K-9 unit helped in the pursuit or arrest. Just an emotional reach — an effective one.
ghost gun are unserialized in the sense that a serial number would have generated from the feds then engraved and registered. The ghost gun software does not generate and engrave a valid federal serial number. Stolen weapons are de-serial numbered in the sense that the engraved federal number that registers that exact weapon to that exact buyer has been removed. In the future “ghost guns” that lawful owners build and register, but are then stolen, will have those numbers ground off by criminals
Sacjon my Assumption would be if he’s a felon in possession of a firearm with no serial number it’s been scratched or altered. Hopefully he gets some serious time for that on top of his other offenses. As for the doggy they were probably using for tracking. Glad they caught him! Great work SBSO
Ying Yang – The Sheriff’s report is, in fact, a “press release.” In part, this “press release” reported the K-9 assisted in conducting a thorough search. Who is the sheriff ” pandering” to?
It seems all the K-9 did was assist as deputies, who, through their investigation found the suspect
I wouldn’t shoot ammunition through that gun you describe. If it didn’t jam, it might blow up. Stolen firearms sell for good money. You can buy a CNC mill with all the end mills and bits, software, parts kits and some aluminum blocks to make 10 high quality Glock knock offs and let the machine do the work while you take a nap… and that would cover the machine costs.
Ghost Gunner is selling their aluminum block AR15 GG3 mill for $2500
The one for a glock using a 80% complete lower is $1200. An 80% lower is a semi finished piece of aluminum that is solid aluminum in the magazine well and the trigger and feed areas, plus a few holes for safeties, bolts, mag release buttons that need to be milled and drilled.
I’ve shot one of these out on a friends ranch in Colorado and it functioned perfectly.
If I was feeling mean spirited, actually might even encourage criminals to shoot ghost guns made with a hand drill and a file. They’d probably lose an eye and some fingers
So wait… you are saying criminals looking to illegally acquire firearms will get a mill, learn to use it, get aluminum stock, and make 10 “high quality glock knockoffs” for a fair price, all while taking a nap? Haha. Nice one.
A hot gun sells for $300. A ghost gun kit for less than 5. The files and a dremmel are all a competent person needs. If you don’t trust your craftsmanship then that’s fine, but don’t go assuming that other people can’t pull it off. Speaking from experience, those kits are plenty reliable. Not sure if you are paid promoting the GG3 mill or something but you come off as a total patsy or internet troll, and we have time for neither.