Three "Ghost" Guns Confiscated and Suspect Arrested in Isla Vista
By the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office
Deputies from the Isla Vista Foot Patrol station have arrested a Lompoc man for weapons charges and confiscated three un-serialized “ghost guns”. On August 14, 2022, at 12:15 a.m., the victim was holding a party in his Isla Vista residence when the suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Raymond Rene Gaitan Jr. of Lompoc, joined the party. When the victim asked the suspect to leave, he brandished, assaulted, and criminally threatened the victim with a handgun. The suspect fled, and the victim called 911. Deputies searched the area for the suspect, but they were unable to locate him that night. Through their follow-up investigation, deputies were able to identify Gaitan as the suspect.
On August 20, 2022, at 12:51 a.m., Isla Vista Foot Patrol deputies were on Del Playa Drive when they saw the Gaitan driving his car. Deputies followed the suspect, and a high-risk stop was conducted on Storke Road at Hollister Avenue in Goleta. In the vehicle with Gaitan were two 15-year-old male passengers. One of the juveniles was carrying a concealed, loaded “ghost” gun, while the other was carrying two loaded “ghost” guns. Deputies determined that Gaitan had given his gun to one of the juveniles to avoid being caught in possession of the loaded firearm.
The juveniles were issued citations for weapons possession violations and released to their parents. Gaitan, who is on felony probation for illegal gun possession and participation in a criminal street gang, was booked at the Main Jail for felon in possession of a firearm (felony), felon in possession of ammunition (felony), assault with a deadly weapon – firearm (felony), brandishing a firearm (felony), criminal threats (felony), child endangerment (felony), possession of narcotics while armed with a loaded firearm (felony), possession of an un-serialized firearm (misdemeanor), and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (misdemeanor). He is being held on an enhanced bail of $250,000.
17 Comments
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Aug 21, 2022 03:01 AMDayum. Some 20 year old guy with two 15 year old wannabe's. Terrible news. Maybe more detail here. I hope they change their ways -- some do! So sad, so young.
https://www.noozhawk.com/article/lompoc_man_20_arrested_for_alleged_weapons_charges_isla_vista
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Aug 21, 2022 03:09 AMJust unimaginable to me, still. I'm 60. I was involved with drugs for personal use, but sometimes sales, 45 years ago. NO ONE had guns. It was still mostly peace, love, drugs, featuring psychedelics in many forms, but cocaine too. I'm so glad I grew up baby boomer/Gen X. We were free range and pre-computer. It was great.
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Aug 21, 2022 05:08 AM3:09, Believe you me, those guns were there whether you saw them in play or not, perhaps not so widespread, but they were there.
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Aug 21, 2022 03:32 PM5:08 is completely clueless
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Aug 23, 2022 03:05 AMYeah. It was different back then. I miss the late-stage hippy menality.
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Aug 21, 2022 07:45 AMReleasing the two 15 year olds to their parents makes no sense. If those parents had been doing their job raising their children the 15 year old "children" wouldn't have been involved with this guy, his drugs and his weapons. Better to have put them into a work camp under lock and key.
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Aug 21, 2022 06:43 PMLol are we already at the work camp phase of conservatism?
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Aug 21, 2022 11:13 AMAnd how do we remove illegal Guns from the streets. These were not sold OTC
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Aug 21, 2022 03:04 PMBought using the gunshow loophole
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Aug 21, 2022 03:22 PMGT- What loophole are you referring to? Have you ever been to a gun show? They follow the same rules as if you were shopping at a brick-and-mortar store. The difference is that there are cops everywhere and the few I've been to even had an ATF booth, unlike a store.
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Aug 21, 2022 03:30 PMhttps://letmegooglethat.com/?q=gun+show+loophole
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Aug 21, 2022 04:34 PMIn 1999, California enacted the nation’s broadest legislation to ensure safe and responsible business practices at gun shows (AB 295). In California, all firearms transfers at gun shows must be processed through a licensed firearms dealer.1 Ordinarily, licensed dealers are only permitted to sell firearms from their licensed premises; however, California law provides an exception for sales at California gun shows as long as they are not conducted from motorized or towed vehicles.2 A dealer operating at a gun show must still comply with all applicable laws, including California’s waiting period law, other California laws governing the transfer of firearms by dealers, and all local ordinances, regulations, and fees.3
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/state-laws/gun-shows-in-california/#:~:text=Ordinarily%2C%20licensed%20dealers%20are%20only,from%20motorized%20or%20towed%20vehicles.
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Aug 21, 2022 07:53 PMSo you are saying the guns were purchased in California? Do you have inside information?
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Aug 21, 2022 07:59 PMGun advocates have long claimed the gun show loophole is a myth. A “fact sheet” from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group, declares flatly: “There is no gun show loophole.”
The organization correctly notes that the rules for selling guns aren’t any more lax at gun shows than they would be in most parking lots.
It’s also true that most vendors at gun shows are licensed dealers.
But many gun shows allow people who aren’t licensed dealers to rent tables too. Some exhibitors are gun collectors who aren’t considered to be selling firearms as a business, but have plenty of guns to sell as they consolidate their collection.
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Aug 22, 2022 08:49 AMJust an assumption. Since they're teenagers, most likely, without the ability to travel out of state to smuggle guns. Much easier and way cheaper to get them on the street from other criminals.
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Aug 24, 2022 12:13 AMGeneralTree I could be wrong but two of those (not the Taurus) look like polymer 80 kits that would originally have been bought online. Not impossible to find in certain stores or shows but much easier because anyone can buy them with no ID, you get to customize it on the site, and it comes discreetly to your door. A little bit of assembly with hand tools or a drill press and there is now another ghost gun on the streets, assuming the owner doesn’t register it with the BOF.
Also the obvious other possibility is that he/they (kids aren’t always innocent bystanders especially with gang activity) sanded the serials off of stolen guns. I really wouldn’t put it past this type of person to be running around with a stolen gun that they turned into a ghost gun.
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Aug 22, 2022 11:54 AMGiven that teenagers in Lompoc are carrying guns,
one might ask the question, "What were they doing in IV?"
Why are illegal nightclubs being allowed to operate and sell alcohol to minors in a residential district?
This type of crime is preventable.