Maryland Bans Ghost Gun Maker from Selling Products

One the nation’s top manufacturers of aptly named ghost guns will stop selling their firearms to Maryland residents following a settlement reached with the city of Baltimore, the city stated on Wednesday. 

In June of 2022, the city of Baltimore filed suit against Polymer80, a Nevada based gun maker, claiming the company intentionally undermined various federal and state firearm laws to manufacture, design, and sell ghost gun kits and parts to customers without a background check.

Ghost guns are firearms that are typically bought online and assembled at home via a kit. They do not have serial numbers and are untraceable, making them uniquely attractive to criminals.

The City of Baltimore will receive $1.2 million from Polymer80 in addition to banning the sales of the weapons to Maryland residents. Further, the ban also extends to neighboring states in prohibiting the sales of ghost guns to Maryland residents, ceasing customer support in Maryland, and providing Baltimore with quarterly reports documenting all sales of ghost guns in adjacent states.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in a statement, “We must hold everyone who has a hand in this violence accountable, from those who choose to pull the trigger, all the way up to the gun dealers and manufacturers responsible for the flow of guns into our City. This settlement — and the statement it sends about the harmful impact of these ghost guns — is a critical victory for the effort to confront gun violence in our communities.”

City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson echoed the mayor’s sentiments adding, “We are doing everything in our power to ensure that we address gun violence that far too many Baltimoreans have experienced.”

In November, a federal appeals court denied the Biden Administration’s attempt to mitigate the explosion of sales of “ghost guns” by declaring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ 2022 rule “unlawful.”