NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge will let the makers of ghost guns appeal his ruling that their products are weapons and should be regulated as such.
New York judge Jesse Furman issued a ruling May 20 that sends the issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Companies sued by state Attorney General Letitia James asked that he certify his order denying parts of their motion to dismiss so they could appeal before final disposition of the case.
James fought the request, but Furman has said the case presents a chance for federal courts to tackle the issue of whether the retailers have failed to establish reasonable controls required by gun industry members.
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.
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. 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," Furman wrote in his dismissal order
The issue of whether ghost guns are "firearms" warrants an interlocutory appeal, Furman put in his most recent order.
"(C)ertification is appropriate because it may materially advance this litigation by resolving an important and partially dispositive issue," he wrote.
Defendants include Arm or Ally, 80 Percent Arms and Brownells. 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.