Polymer80 Raided by ATF

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Polymer80, a Nevada-based firearms company, was raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATF) yesterday. This is an organized move to eliminate what many call “Ghost Guns.” Is this the first of many moves to erode our 2nd Amendment rights or simply poor execution by Polymer80? 

Polymer80 produces build kits for the gun enthusiast. Their build kits are easy to assemble after you legally acquire the remaining 20-percent. The incoming administration called out “Ghost Guns” as a target to abolish through legislation. Ghost Guns is a term used to describe guns that are homemade or improvised that lack a commercial serial number or a commercial firearm that has had i’s serial number filed off.  

The Wall Street Journal broke the story. 

Federal agents on Thursday raided one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of ghost-gun parts, a sign that federal law enforcement is cracking down on kits that allow people to make weapons at home.

The raid target, Nevada-based Polymer80, is suspected of illegally manufacturing and distributing firearms, failing to pay taxes, shipping guns across state lines and failing to conduct background investigations, according to an application for a search warrant unsealed Thursday after the raid took place.

The probe focuses on Polymer80’s “Buy Build Shoot Kit,” which includes the parts to build a “ghost” handgun. The kit, which Polymer80 sells online, meets the definition of a firearm, ATF investigators determined according to the warrant application. That means it would have to be stamped with a serial number and couldn’t be sold to consumers who haven’t first passed a background check.

Polymer80 chief executive David Borges didn’t return phone calls or texts seeking comment Thursday evening.

Agents seized records and other evidence in Thursday’s raid in Dayton, close to Carson City, a law-enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said. No Polymer80 employees were arrested and no charges have been filed.

The raid by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives comes after ghost guns have been used more frequently in high-profile attacks. In September, two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies were shot while sitting in their patrol vehicle by a man using a handgun built from Polymer80 parts, according to the documents. Last year, a 16-year-old killed two fellow students and wounded three others at Saugus High School in Southern California with a homemade handgun. To Read More: CLICK HERE

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