By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) – Los Angeles on Tuesday announced a settlement with a Nevada-based company it accused of illegally selling so-called “ghost guns,” components without serial numbers that a purchaser can easily assemble into a complete gun, in California.
The company, Polymer80, will pay $4 million in civil penalties, and its two founders will pay a combined $1 million. Polymer80 will be barred from selling gun components or kits in the state without including serial numbers and conducting background checks on the buyers.
“This settlement holds Polymer80 and its founders accountable, keeps guns out of the hands of prohibited people, makes L.A. neighborhoods safer and will help law enforcement do their jobs,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto in a statement.
Polymer80 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Los Angeles had said that ghost guns allowed people prohibited from having guns, including felons and minors, to obtain them, and pointed to Polymer80 as a major culprit. It said that from January 2020 through February 2023, the city’s police recovered more than 4,200 Polymer80 ghost guns.
It alleged that Polymer80’s sales practices violated the federal Gun Control Act. They also said the company’s products violated California’s Unsafe Handgun Act, which requires guns to have certain safety features, or its Assembly of Firearms Law, which mandates serial numbers.
The city’s lawsuit is one of several around the country that have aimed to curb the spread of ghost guns. New York recently won an order barring ghost gun sales by 10 companies. Connecticut is pursuing a similar lawsuit.
State gun laws around the country have been struck down in legal challenges following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year dramatically expanding gun rights.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard Chang)
