San Marcos streets turned hotbed for illegal firearms as Tristan Banuelos was nabbed with a ghost gun late Friday night. Sheriffs say that neighbors on the 500 block of Spanish Oak Avenue dialed 911 over a posse of shifty characters. Deputies reaching the locale shortly past 11 p.m. spotted four individuals loitering near a pickup.
A peek inside the truck revealed an ominous sight – a loaded handgun sitting pretty on the passenger seat but lacking the usual trappings of legality. The weapon, deputies determined, was one of the notorious ghost guns - untraceable due to its absence of serial numbers and manufacturer marks. A chill runs down law enforcement's spine when faced with such firearms as they vanish into thin air, leaving crime scenes bereft of any breadcrumbs to follow.
The San Marcos Sheriff's Department slapped cuffs on Banuelos, born April 20, 2002, charging him with felony possession of a loaded gun in public and owning a firearm sans serial number. This arrest throws a spotlight on the growing specter of ghost guns haunting the streets, with legal loopholes allowing these phantom weapons to slip through the cracks.
Sergeant Nicholas Arvanitis of San Marcos Sheriff's Station was the point man for the media, providing the skinny on the bust.
