D.C. has won a permanent injunction, and a $4 million judgment, against one of the largest manufacturers of unserialized ‘ghost gun’ parts, after a judge ruled that the company falsely informed consumers for years that buying the pieces to make such guns was legal in the city.
The number of ghost guns recovered by D.C. police has steadily risen from three in 2017 to 116 two years later to 439 last year, with 344 recoveries this year through July 29. A ghost gun resembling an AR-15 was used to shoot at two reserve police officers in D.C. in 2019. The city passed a law in 2020 banning ghost gun kits.
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine sued Polymer80 in 2020, saying that it was operating as an unlicensed gun dealer in the District. The suit alleged that Polymer was falsely claiming that it was legal for D.C. residents to purchase “80 percent lowers,” which require some machining and additional parts to make a complete gun, or “buy build shoot” kits with all the necessary parts.
Racine argued that the partially made guns qualified as firearms under the city’s Firearm Control Regulations Act because they could be readily converted to fully functioning guns, and that Polymer80 violated the city’s consumer protection act by falsely claiming the parts or kits were legal. The lawsuit revealed that Polymer80 had sold 19 gun parts kits to D.C. residents.
Polymer80 responded that the parts themselves were not working firearms, and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has ratified that view in its written opinions. Polymer80, and other gun rights supporters, have also noted that making a homemade gun is not illegal, so long as it isn’t possessed by someone who can’t legally have a gun, or sold without a serial number.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department submitted a new rule which would clarify that “parts kits that are readily convertible to firearms are subject to the same regulations as traditional firearms,” and would require serial numbers. That rule is scheduled to take effect later this month.
Racine filed a motion for summary judgment in the case, which was largely granted by D.C. Superior Court Judge Ebony M. Scott. “The court finds,” Scott wrote, “that Polymer80′s handgun frames, semi-automatic receivers, and Buy, Build, Shoot kits are firearms.”
On Polymer80′s website, under its “Frequently Asked Questions” section, the answer to the question whether the parts are legal was “YES! The Polymer80 G150 unit is well within the defined parameters of a ‘receiver blank’ defined by the ATF,” which the federal agency had ruled was not a gun. But Scott said that was a false representation because the G150 did not have city approval and that Polymer80 did not have certification to sell guns in the District. The judge noted that ATF’s definition was “not binding on the District.”
Scott cited other FAQ answers as false on the Polymer80 website, including that D.C. residents without a gun license could make and possess firearms. Polymer80 stopped selling its products to D.C. residents in July 2020, the company said in court filings, and the FAQ answers have been removed.
Scott issued a permanent injunction against Polymer80 selling its kits in the city, because of “Polymer80′s alarming belief that the sale of its firearms is now legal in the District.” She determined that Polymer80 should pay either $1,000 or $5,000 for every day it made false claims to D.C. consumers, depending on the status of D.C. law at the time, totaling $4,038,000.
“This judgment against Polymer80,” Racine said in a statement, “will help slow the flow of deadly untraceable ghost guns into our community … The more than $4 million in penalties imposed by the court in this case should send a strong message to firearm manufacturers, distributors, and dealers across the country: you cannot sell illegal guns to DC residents.”
Lawyers and officials for Polymer80 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.