San Francisco Sues Three On-line Retailers for Promoting ‘Ghost Weapons’

The San Francisco District Attorney on Wednesday sued three online retailers for selling “ghost guns,” undetectable firearms that can be made from do-it-yourself kits, part of an intensified nationwide effort to break the tide of deadly homemade weapons contain American cities.

In a civil lawsuit filed in California Superior Court, District Attorney Chesa Boudin accused the companies – GS Performance, BlackHawk Manufacturing Group, and MDX Corporation – of marketing a range of products in the state that provide buyers with parts and accessories that can be quickly assembled into one working weapon.

The lawsuit alleges that the companies that specifically say their products comply with federal and state laws are targeting buyers who want to bypass criminal background checks and purchase guns without traceable serial numbers. The plaintiffs want to ban the sale of such parts.

Companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As the popularity of ghost weapons grows nationwide, California has seen a particularly sharp increase in the use of undetectable firearms in shootings, coinciding with an overall increase in gun-related crimes.

“Ghost weapons are a massive problem in San Francisco – they are becoming increasingly implicated in murders, attempted murders and firearm attacks,” said Boudin, who filed the lawsuit in conjunction with the gun control group founded by former MP Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona.

“We know that the rise in gun violence is related to the proliferation of, and easy access to, weapons that cannot be found, weapons that are easier to obtain from people who would otherwise be prohibited by law,” he added.

The number of homicides in California rose about 27 percent from 2019 to 2020 to about 2,300; it was the largest increase in decades, and the increase has continued this year, according to the California Department of Health.

In 2020, 44 percent of guns found in San Francisco murders were ghost weapons, compared to 6 percent in 2019, Police Chief Bill Scott told the city’s board of directors in May.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore told reporters earlier this year that ghost weapons – made up of parts that can be bought for hundreds of dollars – now make up a third of all weapons recovered by his department.

In May, Attorney General Merrick Garland proposed closing a state loophole that allowed the sale of gun parts used in homemade kits on the grounds that parts, when sold individually, do not constitute a working “firearm”, which is subject to the same rules as licensed handguns.

“Criminals and others who are denied possession of a weapon should not be able to exploit a loophole to bypass background checks and avoid detection by law enforcement,” Garland said at the time, adding that the change “the Making law enforcement easier “would track down weapons used to commit violent crimes.”

But the process of reviewing the new rule and implementing it takes months, and local governments, gun control groups and crime victims are keen to take immediate action if the crisis deepens.

This month, two Los Angeles County sheriffs seriously wounded in an ambush sued Polymer80, a Nevada-based company that is the largest manufacturer of ghost weapon components, for delivering an “untraceable, homemade ‘ghost gun’ kit” to one Felon who was charged with shooting police officers while they were in a patrol car in Compton last September.

In February, the City of Los Angeles and Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sued Polymer80 after a 16-year-old student used the company’s branded parts in a shootout at Saugus High School, she left three children dead.

The company replied that its products are not “firearms” as defined by the Federal Office for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and therefore no serial numbers or background checks are required.

“Although the lawsuit cites definitions of ‘firearm’ and ‘handgun’ under federal law, it does not adequately explain how Defendants’ products meet the various technical elements of each of those definitions,” wrote Sean A. Brady, the company’s attorney, in response on the lawsuit in Los Angeles.

Gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, have spoken out against Mr Garland’s proposed rule changes, arguing that they will violate the rights of the Second Amendment and restrict the legal trade in gun parts.

But the San Francisco lawsuit and others like it allege that companies selling components used in ghost weapons are engaging in fraudulent business practices and must be stopped.

“All of these players are guilty,” said Hannah Shearer, Giffords Law Center litigator for the prevention of gun violence. “These kits are designed to be undetectable and everyone knows.”