San Francisco DA Sues 3 ‘Ghost Gun’ Makers Responsible for Distributing Untraceable Weapons Used for Crimes
The district attorney of San Francisco said Wednesday that he is suing three companies distributing "ghost guns" in California, which accounted for almost half of the confiscated firearms used in gun killings in the city last year.
According to U.S. News, the untraceable, build-it-yourself weaponry, which prompted more crimes in the city, caught the attention of District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Alongside other advocates of tougher gun laws, Boudin announced the filing of a lawsuit at a news conference.
Do-it-Yourself Guns
Based on the lawsuit filed by Boudin, the three companies were not based in San Francisco, but they were responsible for producing a large share of the firearms found in the city and elsewhere in the state.
He named the companies Blackhawk Manufacturing Group, GS Performance, and MDX Corp. as the makers behind the ghost guns.
"Guns are flooding our streets. Enough is enough. It is not enough to wait until after someone has been shot and killed by a firearm. We must get to the root of the problem," Boudin said.
The lawsuit filed by Boudin came amid mounting criticism of the increasing crime rates and the wave of anti-Asian violence in the city. The crime rates and the racist violence has been routinely video-recorded and have spread online virally.
Messages were already left with all three companies as media and authorities seek comment, but they were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Order and Delivery of Ghost Guns
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and other cities across the U.S. have seen a sudden increase in the volume of ghost guns. Last year, they seized a huge number compared to the past years.
In San Francisco, SFPD seized 164 ghost guns in 2020. The latest number was a 2,600 percent increase from the six confiscated in the year 2016.
Based on a statement from Boudin's office, the state of California, in 2020, accounted for 65 percent of the total ghost guns seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Earlier this month, two deputies of the Los Angeles County sheriff's office were badly wounded after an ambush shooting last year. The sheriff's office sued a Nevada company named Polymer80 Inc. for making the parts of the ghost gun used in the said ambush.
The companies named in the lawsuit filed by Boudin touted on their websites how customers could build their do-it-yourself guns. The companies also emphasized that there would be no background checks needed, said Hannah Shearer, the litigation director at Giffords Law Center, which is co-counsel in the case.
Shearer noted that the companies have made it possible for any individual in the state to buy all the parts needed to build a firearm with no questions asked.
Shearer added that customers could even get it shipped in a convenient package with instructions, like an IKEA piece of furniture.
This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by: Jess Smith
WATCH: Ghost Guns Sought by Violent Extremists, Tied to Thousands of Potential Crimes, Feds Warn - From NBC Bay Area
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