Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced Wednesday that the city plans on taking legal action against Polymer80 Inc., a Nevada-based gun manufacturer. Polymer80 Inc. is the country’s largest producer of “ghost guns,” untraceable, build-it-yourself weaponry that have become popular in Baltimore.
The lawsuit also goes after Hanover Armory LLC, a gun shop located in Anne Arundel County, that sells Polymer products. According to Forbes, Baltimore was ranked the fifth most dangerous city in the country. Scott considers “ghost guns” a growing threat to the safety of the city’s inhabitants.
“As long as people who are not legally allowed to possess a firearm — young people, known violent offenders and gun traffickers — have the opportunity to build these tools of death and destruction and violence, we will not be able to build the safer future for Baltimore that we all want,” Scott said during a conference Wednesday. “These weapons will continue to be used in crimes that tear loved ones away from their families and traumatize our communities.”
Polymer faces additional lawsuits from several other cities, including Washington and Los Angeles. The Baltimore lawsuit claims that 25% of all the “ghost guns” law enforcement recovered were confiscated from people too young to legally own a gun in Maryland. These weapons made from such kits are void of background checks and serial numbers, making them nearly impossible to track.
On Wednesday, Maryland changed the legal definition of a firearm to include unfinished frames and receivers, making those parts subject to the same regulations and requirements as fully functional weapons. It is against the law to buy or sell a firearm without a serial number or background check.
During a community event on Monday, Scott told reporters: ““Don’t talk to me about people in Baltimore not caring, because they do. What you should be thinking is, do you care enough to get off your butt and get out in the street and help them, to help us, and be involved in the fight, instead of Tweeting, instead of commenting, Facebooking and talking about what’s not going on?”