Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and Everytown Law, a litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, announced on Feb. 17 that a lawsuit has been filed against Nevada-based Polymer80 – purportedly one of the nation’s largest sellers of ghost gun kits and component parts that enable buyers to build fully functional guns without complying with background checks or gun serialization requirements.

Guns without serial numbers are referred to as ghost guns because they are untraceable, Feuer said. The lawsuit alleges the kits are being sold in violation of federal and California gun laws.

Frequently sold online, Polymer80’s ghost gun kits and components can easily be purchased by people prohibited from owning firearms due to their criminal history or mental health status, authorities said. In recent years, ghost guns have represented over 40% of firearms recovered in Los Angeles area crime scene investigations, with over 700 of the ghost guns that LAPD recovered in 2020 being comprised of Polymer80 parts.

“Untraceable ghost guns are the emerging weapon of choice for criminals, here in L.A. and around the country. We’re fighting to stem this tide at a time when gun violence is devastating neighborhoods in our city,” Feuer said. “Nobody who could buy a serialized gun and pass a background check would ever need a ghost gun. Yet, we allege Polymer80 has made it easy for anyone, including felons, to buy and build weapons that pose a major public safety threat.”

Supporting the lawsuit is Everytown Law, the litigation arm of the gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Everytown has referred to ghost guns as the fastest-growing firearm safety problem facing the country.

“In Los Angeles and many other cities, police are recovering a growing number of ghost guns, most of them made from kits and parts sold by Polymer80,” said Eric Tirschwell, managing director of Everytown Law, which is co-counsel for the plaintiffs. “The surge in these untraceable guns is a problem that federal regulators can solve, but because they haven’t yet, cities are left to deal with the consequences. This lawsuit is an important step to hold Polymer80 accountable and send a message to other suppliers, and it paints a disturbing picture of what cities are dealing with. It also underscores that the ATF must do more to shut down the ghost gun industry.”

According to Feuer’s complaint, Polymer80 has allegedly captured a large percentage of the ghost gun kit and component market. The complaint alleges Polymer80 engages in misleading advertising, which suggests to customers that the purchase and possession of its kits are lawful because they purportedly do not reach the necessary state of manufacture or completion to constitute a firearm under federal law. Feuer’s complaint alleges that because its gun building kits are quickly and easily assembled into operable weapons, they do in fact meet the federal definition of firearms.

Because the products allegedly are firearms under federal law, Polymer80’s business practice of selling them without serial numbers to purchasers residing in different states, and without conducting background checks, are allegedly illegal.  The lawsuit also alleges that Polymer80 has violated California law by aiding and abetting in the manufacture of handguns that do not comply with safety specifications, and the corporation has allegedly created a public nuisance by marketing and selling ghost gun kits to California residents.