The truth of the matter is that so-called “ghost guns” exist in part because there is a point where something that isn’t a gun becomes a gun. Selling something that’s almost a gun, but not quite, isn’t exactly new. I first bought an AK receiver kit more than 20 years ago, along with a parts kit that would let me put together my very own AK.
I loved that gun.
Anyway, the whole “ghost gun” thing, at least when it comes to going after dealers, is premised on someone doing something wrong simply because they took something that wasn’t a gun, sold it, and someone finished up the process. While we might like to believe that they should have enacted some kind of controls to make sure prohibited people couldn’t buy from them, there’s no such process possible. I’m pretty sure you get in trouble for using NICS to check on people’s backgrounds when they’re not buying guns.
And kits and incomplete receivers are not guns. That’s even true with the rule changes during the Biden administration, as he couldn’t just unilaterally ban incomplete receivers or parts kits that are useful for repairs. He could just restrict selling them together.
Still, Baltimore has been hammering Hanover Armory for selling these kits. Now, Hanover Armory has reached a settlement with the city.
The mayor’s office said Baltimore City has reached a settlement with a leading seller of ghost guns in Maryland.
The mayor’s office released a statement Monday afternoon saying the settlement prioritizes injunctive relief that ensures Hanover Armory will responsibly sell firearms in the future. Hanover has agreed to terms like strict reporting requirements, including notifying the city whenever a prohibited purchaser attempts to buy a firearm at the store. They also agreed not to sell any unserialized gun kits, mechanical conversion devices like Glock “switches,” bump stocks and forced reset triggers, the mayor’s office said.
The settlement also stipulates that Hanover will alert the city of any attempted straw purchase and provide comprehensive yearly sales reports documenting its sales of all firearms and firearm accessories, the mayor’s office said.
Additionally, Hanover will pay the city $2 million that will go toward restoring support for gun violence prevention programs that were defunded by the federal government last year.
A trial verdict against Hanover is still under appeal, and this doesn’t seem to impact that.
So, as it stands now, Hanover will pay out the money and agree to a list of demands. It looks bad until you realize that pretty much all of that is required under state or federal law.
The only variation is the requirement to alert the city of attempted straw buys and the reporting information, which I happen to think goes way too damn far.
I have mixed feelings about the settlement. I’m not involved with Hanover Armory, though, so my opinions don’t really matter, nor was I in their shoes during this. I know that lawsuits are stressful and expensive, so settling to just get it over with is a very attractive prospect. Especially when you just want to move the hell on.
The flip side, though, is that settlements just encourage these people to keep trying to blame people who did nothing wrong. Look at what happened after the settlement in the case of Sandy Hook parents suing Remington. Remington’s insurance company settled, and now every anti-gun state thinks they’ve got an opening to get around the PLCAA. This will just encourage them to keep using lawfare to impact what stores can and can’t do, even if it’s perfectly legal.
But again, I’m not involved, so it’s easy for me to think they should have stayed and fought, especially as it’s neither my butt nor my money on the line.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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