Correction (July 6, 2023, 12:02 p.m.): This story has been updated to properly reflect the materials ghost guns are made from and what components are undetectable.
The city of Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit against two ghost gun distributors in the city for intentionally undermining federal and state laws.
The lawsuit is against Polymer80 and JSD Supply, two of the largest distributors of ghost guns in Philadelphia.
The lawsuit alleges that the distributors have bolstered the gun violence crisis and are a threat to the public’s safety by marketing, selling and distributing ghost gun kits with no serial number.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Police recently recovered two ghost guns from the suspect in the recent mass shooting that left five dead and two children injured in Philadelphia on Monday, July 3.
“Today, the City of Philadelphia is taking a stand against gun violence that kills hundreds of people–including children– every year," Mayor Jim Kenney said.
What are ghost gun kits?
Polymer80 and JSD Supply sell ghost gun kits under the guise that they are not selling firearms, officials said in a news release.
The ghost gun kits provide buyers with household tools they can use to build a functioning firearm without requiring buyers to do a background check.
Ghost gun kits are widely available at gun shows.
"In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in the criminal use of illegal, unserialized ghost guns, assembled using ghost gun kits sold by Polymer80 Inc. and JSD Supply. These untraceable weapons pose a dire threat to our public health and safety and are often used to inflict violence,” Mayor Kenney said.
What are ghost guns?
Ghost guns are untraceable firearms that are privately manufactured and able to be assembled at home.
These guns can be acquired without a background check and can be used by those who cannot legally get a gun, including minors and those with felonies.
What makes ghost guns hard to trace?
They are privately-made firearms without serial numbers, according to the AP.
Generally, firearms manufactured by licensed companies are required to have serial numbers – usually displayed on the frame of the gun – that allow officials to trace the gun back to the manufacturer, the firearms dealer and original purchaser.
Ghost guns, however, are made of parts and are then assembled together. The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver. Some are sold in do-it-yourself kits and the receivers are typically made from metal or polymer.
An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required. Under the current rules, the federal government does not consider unfinished lower receivers to be firearms.
What's Philadelphia trying to do?
Through the lawsuit, the city is seeking to stop the distributors from continuing their business, in addition to payment for damages and harm caused by those using ghost guns.
“Polymer80 Inc. and JSD Supply have created a public nuisance by supplying illegal ghost guns to unlicensed individuals in Philadelphia, consequently perpetuating gun violence and causing devastating harm across the city, most often in Black and Brown neighborhoods,” City Solicitor, Diana Cortes, said.
The sale of ghost guns by Polymer80 and JSD Supply are not properly recorded as required by law, so it is hard for law enforcement to track how many ghost guns are on the streets.
In 2022, the Philadelphia Police Department confiscated 575 ghost guns and to date 87% of ghost guns recovered by police are made by Polymer80.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
Police do not know what company manufactured the components found in the mass shooting in Kingsessing.
“Let this be a warning to these manufacturers—we are coming and we will not stop until these weapons are eliminated from our streets,” Mayor Kenney said.
Other cities, including Los Angeles, have sued and reached multi-million-dollar settlements with Polymer80.
Polymer80 has yet to respond to NBC10's request for comment. JSD Supply said it had no comment.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
