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from Kayla MichalovichCalMatters
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Two websites that distribute instructions on how to make ghost guns are facing a new lawsuit from the state of California, alleging they provide access to illegal and untraceable firearms.
The case filed by v.l Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, is targeting the Gatalog Foundation Inc. and CTRLPEW LLC.
The lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleges that the websites infringed numerous state lawsincluding the dissemination of computer code and guidelines for 3D printing firearms, illegal high-capacity magazines and other firearm-related products.
According to the lawsuit, the websites offered computer code and instructions for more than 150 designs of deadly firearms and prohibited firearm accessories. The lawsuit says government officials as part of their investigation downloaded the code and instructions from the website “with a few simple keystrokes” and used them to create a Glock-style handgun.
“The conduct of these defendants allows unlicensed people who are too young or too dangerous to pass firearms background checks to illegally print deadly weapons without a background check and without a trace,” Bonta said. “This lawsuit highlights just how dangerous the ghost gun industry is and how much harm its background check-skipping business model has done to California communities.”
The defendants could not be reached for comment. In addition to the two websites, the lawsuit names three men as defendants: Alexander Holladay, whom the lawsuit identifies as the principal of the Gatalog Foundation; John Ellick, who is identified as its director; and gun rights attorney Matthew Larosiere.
Larosiere in 2019 Mercury News interview characterized ghost guns as a legitimate hobby for firearms enthusiasts.
“It is and always has been legal for ordinary adults to make firearms for personal use,” he told the newspaper. “These people tend to be dedicated hobbyists. Homemade firearms have been around as long as our nation, and today in a country of 300 million people we rarely see them being used in crimes.”
The prevalence of ghost guns has increased dramatically over the past decade in California, leading to what the lawsuit calls a “public safety crisis.” According to the lawsuit, law enforcement agencies in California recovered 26 ghost guns in 2015. As of 2021, agencies have recovered an average of more than 11,000 ghost guns per year, the lawsuit says.
“Because they are not serialized, the ghost guns are virtually untraceable by law enforcement,” the lawsuit states. “And because they are manufactured privately, often in the home, they bypass critical safeguards such as background checks. In this way, ghost guns illegally circumvent traditional gun control measures.”
The case details particularly glaring examples of the dangers that 3D printed firearms pose, including the arrest of a 14-year-old boy who used a 3D printer to make multiple firearms in Santa Rosa in 2024.
Adam Skaggs, general counsel and vice president of the GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement that the organization previously partnered with Bonta to stop three ghost gun companies from operating across California.
“But a new generation of irresponsible gun industry players is trying to illegally arm minors, people with felony convictions and domestic abusers by allowing them to 3D print their own guns without any background checks,” he said.
Kayla Michalovich is a contributor to California Local News.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.