GIFFORDS VICTORY: Ghost gun company stopped from selling machine in California

WASHINGTON — Today, the Superior Court of California ruled in favor of San Diego County in a major win against ghost gun companies, and on the heels of Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on ghost guns. The court granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against a major ghost gun company: Defense Distributed (and related entities Ghost Gunner, Inc. and Coast Runner, Inc). San Diego County was represented by GIFFORDS Law Center, the legal arm of the national gun safety group GIFFORDS, and by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP on a pro bono basis. The lawsuit alleges Defense Distributed has been illegally marketing and selling a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling machine designed to manufacture guns—initially called the Ghost Gunner—in California to people who are not licensed to manufacture guns. 

Defense Distributed was previously barred from selling the Ghost Gunner in California, but rather than stop sales, it rebranded as the “Coast Runner” and continued to market the illegal CNC machine in California. Now, thanks to the court’s ruling, Defense Distributed and the other defendants will be barred from selling the Coast Runner in California while the case proceeds. 

This lawsuit is part of GIFFORDS Law Center’s ongoing work to hold the gun industry accountable.

“This a major victory for gun safety and the people of California. Defense Distributed, Ghost Gunner, and Coast Runner’s efforts to skirt the law and endanger public safety, all to make more money, have been stopped for now. We are thankful for our partners in San Diego County and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP for their work to keep Californians safe, and look forward to making the injunction issued today permanent,” said GIFFORDS Law Center Litigation Director Esther Sanchez-Gomez.