Eileen O’Neill Burke

Cook County law enforcement leaders are expressing their appreciation for the U.S. Supreme Court keeping restrictions on ghost guns.

In a joint statement, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke and Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling said: “We applaud (Wednesday’s) Supreme Court ruling upholding restrictions on ghost guns, which have become far more common over the past decade and led to significant loss of life in Chicago.

“These homemade firearms — which already are illegal in Illinois — can come from anywhere and are nearly impossible to trace, which hinders criminal investigations. For this reason, they are also popular with gangs who share weapons to commit multiple crimes, and with dangerous individuals who are unable to purchase firearms legally. There is more work to be done — including combating the increased prevalence of illegal machine gun conversion devices, or ‘switches,’ that are continuing to cause so much harm in our communities — but (Wednesday’s) ruling reinforces a welcome tool and commonsense approach in the fight against gun crime. Lives will be saved as a result.