NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge has rejected a motion to dismiss in a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against sellers of so-called ghost guns.
James sued the companies in 2022, claiming their guns are made so that they can easily be converted into untraceable and sold without background checks. Judge Jesse Furman, of the Southern District of New York, has said the case presents an opportunity for federal courts to tackle the issue of whether the retailers have failed to establish reasonable controls required by gun industry members.
The companies argued their products are not weapons, even though one of them stated in a marketing video regarding converting the frame into a firearm: "Even a caveman can do this."
"From these allegations alone, one can 'draw the reasonable inference' that unfinished frames and receivers 'may readily be converted' into functional firearms and, thus, are firearms that should have been serialized and otherwise sold subject to the restrictions imposed by law," his Feb. 23 ruling says.
The defendants are Arm or Ally, 80 Percent Arms, 80P Builder, Brownells, Glockstore/GS Performance, Indie Guns, KM Tactical, Primary Arms, Rainer Arms and Rock Slide USA. The suit accuses of them of fraud and public nuisance, among other claims.
The defendants sell unfinished frames, marketed as incomplete, even though all it requires is a "tiny amount of plastic to shave down at the top of the frame and three tiny holes to be drilled on the side," the suit says.
"These adjustments require no guesswork," it adds. "With the aid of a simple jig that precisely guides the tool work, usually sold together with the unfinished part as a kit, an individual can produce a working firearm in under an hour without any special skill or aptitude."
The defendants are not subjected to the investigation and review process required to become a registered Federal Firearms Licensee and do not keep records of their sales.
"Evading these and other requirements is not an accidental byproduct of Defendants' business; it appears to be the point," Furman wrote earlier in the case.
James' lawsuit alleges these ghost guns have caused a public health and safety crisis. She makes 11 claims, including violation of bans on shipping unfinished frames in New York and endangering the public.