New York City And State Sue ‘Ghost Gun’ Distributors — Hit Back After Supreme Court Knocks Down Gun Law

Topline

New York state and city officials filed lawsuits Wednesday going after gun distributors who sell “ghost guns” that can escape firearm restrictions and be harder to trace, as the state tries to crack down on gun violence and do more to limit firearms after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s concealed carry law.

“Ghost guns” are displayed at the headquarters of the San Francisco Police Department in San … [+] Francisco, on Nov. 27, 2019.

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Key Facts

New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Eric Adams filed lawsuits in state and federal courts, respectively, against multiple national gun distributors that have been linked to “ghost guns,” firearms that are privately assembled and don’t have serial numbers, meaning they can’t be tracked and aren’t subject to background checks on purchases or other restrictions.

The lawsuits allege the distributors have sent “unfinished” firearm frames and receivers to people in New York who then use those parts to assemble working guns—without including serial numbers or vetting those they sell to—which allegedly violates laws that prohibit the possession or sale of unfinished frames or receivers.

The gun distributors “[failed] to take the necessary steps—or any steps at all—to keep their ghost gun products” away from people who would be otherwise prohibited from owning a firearm, the state lawsuit alleges, and allegedly “engage in … deception and false advertising” about whether the products they’re selling are legal.

Distributing the ghost gun materials also constitutes an illegal public nuisance, both the state and city lawsuits allege, and “endangers the health and safety” of New Yorkers.

The litigation asks the courts to bar the companies from selling and distributing any materials used to make ghost guns, and in the case of the state lawsuit, issue public statements acknowledging their fault, pay damages and turn over the revenue they made off the ghost gun sales.

Companies named in the litigation have not yet responded to requests for comment.

Crucial Quote

“Defendants persist in endangering the health and safety of the public by delivering to private individuals everything they need to make a deadly firearm at home,” the state lawsuit alleges.

Big Number

175. That’s the number of ghost guns the New York Police Department has recovered during arrests in 2022 as of June 14, according to the city’s lawsuit, making up 9% of all firearms seized. This year’s number of ghost guns is on track to exceed those recovered in 2021, the lawsuit notes, and ghost guns have proliferated in recent years, going up from 17 recovered in 2018, to 263 in 2021.

Key Background

Ghost guns have become a significant issue for gun control advocates in recent years, with the White House saying that 20,000 ghost guns were reported to the federal government in 2021 alone—a ten-fold increase from 2016—and the pro-gun control organization Everytown describing them as “the fastest growing gun safety problem in the country.” In addition to New York, lawmakers in states like California and Illinois have also taken steps to try and curb ghost guns, and the Biden administration announced a new rule in April that forces gun dealers to add serial numbers and bans the manufacturing of some kinds of ghost guns. The New York lawsuit comes less than a week after the Supreme Court rolled back the state’s gun rights by striking down its concealed carry law and deeming it overly restrictive under the Second Amendment.

What To Watch For

New York legislators will convene a special session Thursday to consider new legislation that will protect gun safety while complying with the Supreme Court’s ruling.