GIFFORDS reacts to federal court striking down ATF’s ghost gun rule

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS Law Center, the legal arm of the national gun violence prevention group GIFFORDS, released the following statement after U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) rule that required ghost guns and ghost gun kits to be treated like the firearms they are. Last year, the United States Supreme Court voted 7-2 to reverse a prior injunction from Judge O’Connor and upheld the rule in Bondi v. VanDerStok. ATF’s rule clarified that the parts used to make ghost guns are legally firearms, which means that they must have serial numbers and can only be sold by licensed sellers after a background check. 

“Under the logic of this injunction, people ineligible to possess guns could get an untraceable ghost gun without any background checks or training. No one wants to live in a country where gun violence is easy to commit and almost impossible for police to solve. That’s a nightmare,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “The Trump administration has a choice to make — will it stand with law enforcement to appeal this dangerous decision or with extremist gun lobby campaign donors?”

What Are Ghost Guns?

Ghost guns are firearms that do not have serial numbers because they are made by private individuals rather than licensed manufacturers. Because they do not have serial numbers, these guns cannot be traced by law enforcement, which makes it harder to solve crimes and investigate trafficking patterns. 

Ghost guns are primarily made using partially complete parts. By leaving intentionally unfinished the key part of the firearm — generally called the “frame” for handguns and the “receiver” for long guns — gun companies have been able to sell the parts needed to make a ghost gun while claiming they weren’t selling a gun at all. 

As a result, these companies have not conducted background checks and have readily sold ghost gun parts to anyone with the money to buy them, including documented sales to children and people prohibited because of their criminal record. Many of the companies do not even have a license to sell guns.

The Growing Problem of Ghost Guns

In recent years, gun traffickers have become major customers of ghost gun companies. Ghost guns are highly attractive to firearm traffickers precisely because there are no background checks or sale records and the guns themselves are untraceable. Sourcing guns for illegal resale is easier, and the subsequent black market sales are harder to track.

The result has been a surge of ghost guns onto our streets. Police departments across the country have reported explosive increases in the number of ghost guns connected with crimes, with ghost guns constituting up to 41% of guns used in crime, alongside an alarming rise in gun violence.

GIFFORDS’ Work to Address Ghost Guns

Faced with this rapidly expanding threat to gun safety, GIFFORDS has led the fight against ghost guns. When the threat was still first emerging, GIFFORDS Law Center partnered with pro bono counsel Arnold & Porter to call on the Internet Service Providers that hosted the websites selling these guns to take them down. While some internet companies have made it clear that the sale of gun parts is prohibited under their terms of service, others have continued to host these companies, and in-person ghost guns sales have continued at gun shows.

GIFFORDS has advocated for ghost gun laws at the state level and helped to pass ghost gun laws across the country.

GIFFORDS has also litigated the issue. Alongside Attorney General Xavier Becerra of California, GIFFORDS Law Center won an important victory against the ATF over loopholes in its rule that arbitrarily exempted some ghost gun products. 

GIFFORDS also took the fight to the ghost gun companies themselves. In Philadelphia, GIFFORDS Law Center represented the city alongside the Hausfeld law firm and the City of Philadelphia Law Department to sue largest suppliers of ghost guns in the United States, Polymer80 and JSD Supply. The lawsuit was settled for $1.3 million. 

Additionally, GIFFORDS Law Center, along with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters, LLP, led a lawsuit that was settled against Blackhawk Manufacturing Group, Inc., MDX Corporation, and GS Performance, LLC (Glockstore). Each company has agreed to immediately stop selling firearm parts without serial numbers in California and to stop manufacturing such parts in California. Importantly, the retailers have also agreed to stop misleading consumers about the legality of purchasing, possessing, or assembling firearm products without serial numbers in California. The agreement also included a significant monetary settlement: each retailer will pay civil penalties totaling $675,000: $500,000 for Blackhawk, $120,000 for Glockstore, and $55,000 for MDX.