BOO! D.C. Sues “Ghost Gun” Manufacturer

‘Twas a dark and stormy night…and Americans were building their own firearms legally. AAAH!

The anti-gunners are back to their legislation-by-lawsuit strategy, this time with ghost stories!

The city of Washington, D.C., which competes with only New York City in its unconstitutionally harsh gun laws, is at it again: They’re suing popular firearm manufacturer Polymer80 for making and selling the parts needed to create a so-called “ghost gun.” Never mind that what Polymer80 is doing is actually 100 percent legal according to the ATF. Never mind that what the D.C. residents who purchase an 80% lower from Polymer80 and then manufacture it into a firearm are doing is also 100 percent legal according to the ATF. The city has been smarting ever since the District of Columbia v. Heller Supreme Court decision forced them to allow D.C. residents to own handguns in 2008, and they’re damn well going to make sure their residents know that they mean to keep them disarmed by hook or by crook.

You see, despite the fact that it’s now technically legal to purchase and own a handgun in D.C., at this time, the city has done a yeoman’s job of making sure that it’s extremely difficult. For example, if you’d like to buy a gun, there’s only one licensed dealer in the city: the city police.  (Yes, the same police that the very same D.C. government is currently trying to defund because…well, apparently they can be trusted to transfer guns, but not to do any actual policing? I don’t know, but it’s fun to watch.)

So, what some D.C. residents have done is what any American is permitted to do under the Second Amendment: Manufacture their own gun for their own personal use. Yes, that’s totally legal. To quote the ATF:

Does an individual need a license to make a firearm for personal use?

There’s an old saying among litigators that goes like this: “If the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. If the law is on your side, pound on the law. If neither is on your side, pound on the table.” What’s happening here is that the law is not on the D.C. anti-gunners’ side. The facts are not on the D.C. anti gunners’ side. So they’re “pounding the table” with a lawsuit.

There’s just one little teeny tiny problem with that lawsuit: It’s illegal. Ever since the passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms act, lawsuits against gun manufacturers for crimes committed with their guns aren’t permitted. The reason this act was passed was because back in the mid-90s to early 2000s, anti-gunners were attempting to sue gun manufacturers out of existence with multiple nuisance suits. It was as stupid then as it is now–suing a gun manufacturer for crimes committed with their guns is like suing Ford because one caused a multi-car pileup. What they’re doing now is abusing the tort system and, frankly, lying about it. Let’s go back to that article about the lawsuit, shall we? Here’s the ninth paragraph:

The city is seeking a court order to stop the gun maker from continuing to sell illegal ghost guns to District residents, as well as civil penalties, monetary relief and legal costs. [Emphasis mine.]

But wait, didn’t we just find that very clear direction from the ATF saying that it’s legal? Why yes, we did! Because “ghost guns” aren’t illegal in D.C. A mere two sentences later, we get this:

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed legislation that would prohibit the possession, assembly, sale and purchase of any type of “ghost gun” in February. [Emphasis mine.]

She proposed the legislation–it hasn’t passed, and it won’t, because it violates the Second Amendment. But that matters neither to the reporter who wrote this, nor to Bowser, nor to the anti-gunners. They know that the facts aren’t on their side; they know the laws aren’t on their side; and so they’re pounding the table as hard as they can in hopes they can legislate by lawsuit until there’s no such thing as a “new gun” of any kind anymore.