New York gunsmith’s home raided, prosecuted over accusations he made ‘ghost guns’

In a recent interview with a podcast called A Fresh Perspective, hosted by Jeff Charles, Dexter Taylor said he had purchased various parts online using his credit card to build his own firearms after taking up gunsmithing several years ago.

Years after Taylor began gunsmithing, the ATF and a New York City Police Department (NYPD) SWAT showed up at his home, broke down his door and arrested him.

Taylor was arrested and spent a week in Rikers Island.

According to Red State, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced in April 2022 that he was indicting Taylor for buying “$10,000 worth of gun parts online to build illegal, untraceable firearms known as ghost guns.”

He was arraigned on a 37-count indictment for multiple counts of second, third, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, prohibition on unfinished frames or receivers, and one count of unlawful possession of pistol ammunition.

Taylor is facing up to 18 years in prison despite not being suspected of or charged with any violent offenses and having a clean criminal record.

Taylor’s lawyer Vinoo Varghese, has challenged the constitutionality of New York’s gun control laws for being overly restrictive and a violation of the Second Amendment. He told the outlet that “there was no criminal intent on [Taylor’s] part.”

The lawyer also said Taylor, and others in similar legal situations, are being targeted because they didn’t apply for a firearm license. Varghese claims that implies that the prosecution lacks the standing to make the case adding that he motioned to dismiss Taylor’s case, using New York State data to prove that it would have

been “futile” for Taylor to attempt to get a license because NY issues so few firearm permits.

A recent Supreme Court ruling in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen declared that New York’s firearm licensing method was unconstitutional, allowing many firearm restrictions to be challenged in court.

However, officials in the Empire State passed even more onerous gun laws in response and it is now harder to get a license than before the Bruen decision.