California Joins Lawsuit Againt Ghost Gun Manufacturers – CBS San Francisco
From sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
2021-10-13 20:38:00
Excerpt:
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The state of California is jumping into an historic lawsuit against companies who make kits to assemble so-called “ghost guns.”
The suit, originally filed in August by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office along with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters, accuses three companies of selling illegal prepackaged kits, allowing people to make a firearm at home. These ghost guns don’t have serial numbers, making them untraceable.
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In joining the lawsuit against Blackhawk Manufacturing Group, Inc., GS Performance, LLC, and MDX Corporation, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the defendants are violating the federal Gun Control Act and two state gun control measures by not meeting basic safety requirements.
“Fifteen minutes — that’s the little time it takes to put it together. We’re not talking about a kit of Legos, we’re not talking about Blue Apron or Martha Stewart’s meal kit, and we’re not talking about a COVID test. We’re talking about a ghost gun kit,” said Bonta. “These weapons have been used in mass shootings. Criminals have used them to murder innocent children in our classrooms. They have been linked to serious crimes here in San Francisco and across the nation. And in America, we have a gun problem. We have to acknowledge that.”
According to the San Francisco Police Department, nearly half of the firearms recovered in 2020 in connection with homicides were ghost guns; in 2019, that number was just 6%.
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Because of the nature of the product, ghost gun kit manufacturers do not follow firearm sales regulations. The kits are also easy to assemble — several YouTube videos and websites are available to help buyers.
“Gun kits sold by each of these three retailers can…