GIFFORDS Law Center, City of Philadelphia File Lawsuit against Ghost Gun Companies

Washington DC — Today, GIFFORDS Law Center, the legal arm of the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, filed a lawsuit with co-counsel Hausfeld LLP on behalf of the City of Philadelphia against two ghost gun companies: Polymer80, Inc. and JSD Supply, Inc. These two companies are among the largest manufacturers and sellers of ghost guns in the United States.

Philadelphia sued the ghost gun companies alleging that they perpetuated the gun violence crisis and threatened the public’s right to health and safety by marketing, selling, and dispersing unserialized ghost gun kits into Philadelphia.

“As a gun violence prevention advocate, I know that gun violence happens when someone who should not have a gun is able to access a gun. In the face of this serious problem, there is an entire industry that is trying to make it worse. The two ghost gun companies that the City is suing today do not care who they are selling to, whether it’s someone with a felony record, someone at risk of suicide, a child, or a gun trafficker. That’s not just morally wrong—it’s a violation of Pennsylvania law. I’m proud to stand with the City of Philadelphia to stop this reckless and unlawful conduct and to say that you cannot mortgage our communities’ safety to pad your bottom line.”

“Today, the City of Philadelphia is taking a stand against gun violence that kills hundreds of people—including children—every year. In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in the criminal use of illegal, unserialized ghost guns, assembled using ghost gun kits sold by Polymer80 Inc. and JSD Supply. These untraceable weapons pose a dire threat to our public health and safety and are often used to inflict violence. We are holding these distributors accountable for supplying ghost guns into our streets and for the havoc they have wreaked in Philadelphia communities. Public safety is our top priority, and we are using every available resource to address and prevent the trauma and irreparable loss caused by gun violence. I am grateful to the Law Department for their efforts to save lives and seek justice through this lawsuit.”

In the last decade, there has been an exploding market in “do-it-yourself” ghost guns that seek to intentionally circumvent the reach of state and federal gun safety laws. The ghost gun industry has developed gun build kits and related products that allow untrained amateurs to quickly and easily assemble their own firearms from unregulated parts—including frames and receivers that are left just unfinished enough to escape the definition of “firearm” under state or federal gun safety laws.

The weapons assembled from these kits and related products are called “ghost guns” because they are sold and assembled without traceable serial numbers. Many are also sold anonymously without any background check or sale record by unlicensed manufacturers and sellers evading laws governing licensed gun manufacturers and dealers. Furthermore, ghost guns may be produced largely or even entirely from plastic, which are undetectable by traditional metal detectors and other security scanning systems. Ghost gun distributors thus provide access to untraceable, undetectable firearms to people who have not passed—and potentially could not pass—a background check.

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