The city won on its claim that Polymer80, a large manufacturer of gun parts kits, falsely advertised that the kits were legal in D.C.
The ruling was issued Wednesday against Nevada-based Polymer80, which sells the lower frames and receivers which can be used to make a pistol or a rifle, including the parts used to make an AR-15 style rifle. Weapons constructed with such parts are called ghost guns because they don’t contain serial numbers, and so can’t be traced to an original manufacturer or seller.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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