While State Attorneys General are limited to enforcing laws within their respective states, their enforcement activities often implicate businesses located elsewhere but whose business activity crosses state lines. One area where we have seen a rising trend in enforcement, particularly among Democratic AGs, is concerning ghost guns. 

Ghost guns are firearms privately made by individuals using easy-to-get building blocks. The parts for ghost guns can be bought and sold without serial numbers or background checks, making these weapons untraceable and increasingly popular with individuals who are legally prohibited from owning guns. Notably, while companies that provide the parts for ghost guns may be based in states with no restrictions on these products, by engaging in interstate business activities, these companies may still be subject to laws in states with stricter restrictions on the sale and ownership of firearms. 

Several State AGs have taken action against companies in the ghost gun industry that are located out of state but ship ghost gun parts across state borders.

• In 2022, New York AG Letitia James brought a landmark lawsuit against ten national gun distributors. All based outside of New York, the defendants allegedly sold and shipped thousands of unserialized ghost gun kits to New Yorkers with no customer screening controls or procedures. The complaint alleged, among other things, violations of New York state and local laws prohibiting the possession or sale of unfinished frames or receivers, or ghost guns made from such frames or receivers, as well as violations of federal statutory requirements of serialization and background checks when selling these products. Additionally, AG James invoked a state public nuisance statute for the first time, asserting that the defendants endangered the safety and health of the public by selling and bringing dangerous and illegal products into New York and by failing to adopt reasonable controls and procedures to prevent their products from falling into improper hands. In March 2023, AG James secured an order prohibiting the defendants from selling unfinished frames and receivers into New York State. In March 2024, AG James secured a $7.8 million judgment and permanent injunction against one of the defendants, a Florida-based retailer that sold ghost gun products and marketed itself as a supplier that would allow its customers to evade gun laws.
• In March 2023, Connecticut AG William Tong sued four out-of-state firearm dealers for selling and advertising ghost gun parts in Connecticut. The sale and receipt of unfinished frame and lower receiver gun components lacking serial numbers or unique identification are banned in Connecticut. By selling and marketing ghost guns which are expressly prohibited under Connecticut law, the defendants allegedly engaged in unfair or deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit has led to a settlement in March 2024, pursuant to which one of the defendants, a Floria-based ghost gun dealer, would cease its operations and dissolve. 
• In December 2023, New Jersey AG Matthew J. Platkin filed civil complaints against three companies, including two Pennsylvania-based companies in the ghost gun industry: a gun show company and a ghost gun products vendor. The complaints alleged that the two companies targeted the sale of ghost gun products to New Jersey residents by directly advertising their gun shows in New Jersey and hosting the shows just across the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border. Then, the ghost gun products vendor allegedly sold ghost gun parts without conducting background checks or requiring buyers to demonstrate that they were not disqualified from purchasing or possessing a firearm. The claims are based on New Jersey’s firearms public nuisance legislation, which authorized the AG to sue gun industry members for contributing to a public nuisance in New Jersey through unlawful or unreasonable conduct, or for failing to maintain reasonable controls, relating to their sale, manufacturing, distribution, importing, or marketing of gun-related products. 

A number of AGs in those states currently without any ghost gun regulations are also advocating for legislative efforts to enact such regulations. For example, while Massachusetts has one of the strictest gun laws in the nation, it currently has no law directly restricting ghost guns. Accordingly, Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell’s strategic plan 2023-2027 emphasized that her office will “[s]upport and champion common sense gun legislation, including legislation that will close gaps in the Commonwealth’s gun laws related to ghost guns[.]” 

As State AGs are increasingly active in their enforcement efforts with respect to these untraceable weapons, businesses dealing directly or indirectly with the firearms industry should be mindful of the enforcement and legislative trends and take necessary steps to ensure compliance. More broadly, the recent actions against out-of-state ghost gun companies are a helpful reminder of the reach of State AGs’ enforcement powers and the interstate implications of companies’ conduct.