In a complaint filed Wednesday in Maryland state court, the city said 91% of the ghost guns it recovers that have been used in crimes were made from Polymer80's kits, and the number of ghost guns recovered has skyrocketed in the last four years.
In a press release, Mayor Brandon Scott's office said that before 2018, the city had never recovered a ghost gun, but already in 2022, officers have recovered 187 ghost guns used in crimes, more than double the number recovered by this time last year. According to the release, the suit came on the same day that the city's ban on ghost guns went into effect.
"Ghost guns are a devastating menace to the people of Baltimore," Scott said in the release. "This lawsuit shines a light on Polymer80 and individuals who routinely create a marketplace for deadly, untraceable weapons. The availability of these weapons — particularly to criminals, juveniles and other people who are prohibited from owning a firearm — presents a growing public health crisis. We must stop Polymer80 and companies like it that profit from destroying our communities."
According to the complaint, Polymer80 sells kits that it says are 80% completed. Those kits include tools and directions to complete a gun, and the manufacturer also makes the missing component parts not sold in the kits.
These guns are not given serial numbers and are not in the Maryland Handgun Register, according to the suit, meaning they sidestep state and federal laws requiring handgun buyers to pass background checks, and they are difficult if not impossible to trace by law enforcement.
The city added that while it has recovered some ghost guns, there are likely many more out there, as it is unable to recover all weapons used in crimes in the city.
According to the complaint, criminals and others who could not lawfully purchase a handgun are the primary market for Polymer80's ghost guns, and Polymer80 knowingly exploits this to sell the kits.
The city further alleged that the company misleads buyers into thinking the kits are legal, by citing a letter from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determining that the kits were not considered firearms. The company omitted, however, that the letter was based on an incomplete kit that did not include the tools, the city said. The ATF found the company had engaged in misleading conduct, and must resubmit the kits in full, its complaint said.
According to the suit, Hanover Armory is also liable as it sells Polymer80's kits and component parts.
The suit alleges negligence and public nuisance claims, as well as violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. It seeks damages in compensation for the policing costs to the city, as well as punitive damages against Polymer80 and an injunction blocking it from selling more ghost guns in the city.
"By manufacturing and selling ghost guns, these defendants have predictably, if not intentionally, caused violence, destruction and death in Baltimore City," the city said in the complaint. "The city is entitled to the costs it has suffered from the havoc defendants have caused."
Attorneys for the city said the danger of these weapons is not hypothetical, pointing to the January 2021 murder of Dante Barksdale, leader of the Safe Streets anti-violence movement, which was committed with a ghost gun made from a Polymer80 kit. According to the complaint, the alleged shooter was acquitted last month because the weapon couldn't be traced to the crime.
"The foreseeable harm of this kind needs to stop, and Polymer80 is liable for this and other kinds of violence that is all too common in Baltimore," James Hannaway of Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP, representing the city, told Law360 on Thursday.
Steve Kelly of Sanford Heisler Sharp, also representing the city, added: "It's not theoretical. Here you have a peace activist who was murdered with one of these weapons. This is not an academic discussion. People are dying on the streets of Baltimore as a result of these guns, and the criminals who are killing them are getting off because of exactly what Polymer80 is doing."
Polymer80 and Hanover Armory did not respond to requests for comment.
The city is represented by Sara Gross and Tom Webb of the Baltimore City Department of Law, Jonathan Lowy and Philip Bangle of the Brady Campaign, and Steve Kelly, Johan Conrod, Albert Powell, and James Hannaway of Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP.
Counsel information for the defendants was not available Thursday.
The case is Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Polymer80 Inc. et al., case number 24C22002482, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland.
--Editing by Alex Hubbard.
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