GHOST GUN KIT MAKER HALTS SALES TO PEOPLE IN CALIF., D.C.

Polymer80, the leading manufacturer of “ghost gun” kits, has agreed to stop selling them to California residents and will pay $5 million in penalties as part of a lawsuit settlement with the Los Angeles city attorney.

The agreement to halt sales of the kits in the nation’s most populous state comes after a D.C. judge last year entered a permanent injunction and a $4 million judgment against Polymer80 for selling gun parts in violation of city law. The company’s website now prominently advises it will not sell parts to residents of California or the District of Columbia.

Ghost guns are homemade firearms, built without serial numbers, that can’t be traced by police after they are used in crimes. The number of ghost guns seized by law enforcement has skyrocketed in recent years, from less than 3,000 in 2017 to nearly 26,000 last year, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Meanwhile, the number of homicides involving all types of firearms has risen by about 50 percent nationwide within that time frame, from less than 14,000 in 2018 to nearly 21,000 in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ATF has estimated that Polymer80 was responsible for more than 88 percent of the ghost guns recovered by police from 2017 to 2021, although there are nearly 100 manufacturers selling parts, or full kits, that can be made into guns without serial numbers, according to a list compiled by Everytown for Gun Violence, which joined Los Angeles in suing Polymer80 in 2021.

“This settlement is an unprecedented victory for gun industry accountability,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law, “and it sends a clear message to other bad actors that they are not above the law.”