San Francisco Sues Online Sellers of Ghost Guns
In a civil complaint filed in California Superior Court, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin claims that the companies, which explicitly say their products comply with federal and state laws, are targeting buyers who want to evade criminal background checks and buy guns without traceable serial numbers.
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In a civil complaint filed in California Superior Court, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin accused the companies — G.S. Performance, BlackHawk Manufacturing Group and MDX Corporation — of marketing a range of products in the state that furnish buyers with parts and accessories that can be quickly assembled into functional and untraceable firearms known as “ghost guns,” reports the New York Times. The suit claims that the companies, which explicitly say their products comply with federal and state laws, are targeting buyers who want to evade criminal background checks and buy guns without traceable serial numbers.
The plaintiffs are seeking to outlaw sales of such parts. California has seen a particularly large increase in the use of untraceable firearms in shootings coinciding with an overall spike in gun-related crimes. Homicides in California jumped by about 27 percent from 2019 to 2020, to about 2,300; it was the largest increase in decades, and the rise has continued this year, according to the California Department of Public Health. In 2020, 44 percent of guns recovered in homicide cases in San Francisco were ghost guns, compared with 6 percent in 2019. While Attorney General Merrick Garland recently proposed closing a federal regulatory loophole that allows the sale of gun components used in homemade kits because when sold separately they don’t represent a firearm, the process of reviewing the new rule and putting it into effect is taking months.
