One of the nation’s largest manufacturers of “ghost guns” has settled with Baltimore for over $1.2 million to resolve the city’s lawsuit alleging that Polymer80’s build-it-yourself firearm kits have contributed to city violence, reports the Baltimore Sun. The settlement prohibits Polymer80 from selling, advertising, or offering customer support to Maryland residents, requiring the manufacturer to prohibit its dealers in other nearby states from selling their untraceable firearm kits to Maryland residents, Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said Wednesday. The mayor’s office described the settlement as “the most expansive and strictest injunctive terms so far” reached by jurisdictions that have sued so-called “ghost gun” manufacturers. The city sued Polymer80 in 2022, citing police statistics in its complaint alleging the use of the Nevada-based company’s products has become widespread in city crime. The company sells kits with partially built guns — the 80 in the name refers to kits being “80% complete” — as well as directions for customers to finish putting them together at home.
By selling kits rather than finished firearms, the manufacturer’s products have been able to skirt past gun regulations — often without the sales records and background checks required of firearms sales and lacking serial numbers, making it nearly impossible for law enforcement to trace them back to an owner. The same day Baltimore’s lawsuit was filed, June 1, 2022, a Maryland law took effect banning the unfinished firearms.
Police seized only nine so-called “ghost guns” in 2018, but that number quickly skyrocketed to 324 by 2021, with a sweeping majority of them being made from Polymer80’s kits, according to data in the lawsuit. A total of 462 ghost guns were seized by Baltimore Police in 2023, and the number of untraceable weapons recovered so far into 2024 is up 30% compared to the same time last year. The lawsuit claimed that Polymer80 neglected to consider the consequences of selling their kits in Baltimore, causing violence in the city and ripple effects such as heightened emergency services costs and lower property values.