(NewsNation) — Known for selling untraceable “ghost guns,” American manufacturer Polymer80 has shut down – for now.
The company, founded in 2013, became the country’s largest manufacturer of parts kits for making homemade guns, but business operations have taken a hit following surmounting legal issues.
“P80 was getting sued left and right. Probably twice a month,” CEO Loran Kelley Jr. recently wrote on social media. “In order to be able to stop the hemorrhaging we had to shut down and get some things in order.”
Manufacturers and distributors of firearms in the U.S. must have a federal firearms license, and the firearm must have a unique serial number. However, under U.S. law, only a specific part of a weapon, usually the receiver, is considered a firearm.
Polymer80 sells individual manufactured parts, including unfinished receivers, without serial numbers. Consumers, who don’t undergo a background check, are then able to assemble the parts into a functional firearm, anywhere from a handgun to an AR-15-style rifle.
Their products have been identified in criminal activity and high-profile shootings, including the July 2023 mass shooting in Philadelphia that left five people dead. The AR-15-style rifle and 9mm handgun used were privately made firearms, which the city claims were made using supplies from Polymer80. This resulted in one of numerous lawsuits the company has faced.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a well-known nonprofit gun control advocacy organization founded by Michael Bloomberg, has also sued the company.
“P80 has to completely revisit how we participate in the market,” the CEO wrote on social media. “They knew we were down and out of money so Everytown and others kept suing us, no matter how ridiculous. So we are shut down…. for now.”
In June 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives mandated sellers of ghost gun kits to add serial numbers to some parts and conduct background checks on prospective buyers.
Still, Kelley Jr. insists his company will return “in some way shape or form.”
