August 19, 2022

District of Columbia Awarded $4 Million in Suit Against Ghost Gun Manufacturer

Lori Kalani, Bernard Nash

Cozen O'Connor

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Cozen O'Connor

DC AG Karl Racine secured a $4 million judgment against ghost gun manufacturer Polymer80, Inc. for allegedly advertising and selling illegal “unserialized” firearms to DC consumers in violation of the Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA).
In its summary judgment order, the DC Court of Appeals held that Polymer80’s gun kits and parts—that come without serial numbers or other identification numbers and can be assembled into fully functional, untraceable firearms—are firearms under DC law, and that the company violated the CPPA and DC gun laws when it sold illegal guns to DC consumers and falsely represented on its website that its products were legal in DC.
The court permanently banned Polymer80 from selling firearm-related products to DC consumers, either online or through its network of dealers and distributors. The company must also inform its dealers and distributors that such sales are illegal and place prominent notices on each product page on its website that its products are illegal to purchase or possess in DC. Finally, the court ordered Polymer80 to pay $4 million in monetary penalties, which was calculated to account for each of the 1,198 days the company made misrepresentations on its website.

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