Haunted by Violence: How Mayor of Baltimore v. Polymer80 Shapes Baltimore’s Fight Against Ghost Guns

Grace Allen

Companies face growing accountability for the negative social implications of their business practices.[1] This is seen in the tobacco industry, opioid industry, and now, the firearm industry.[2] However, in a field where regulation is extremely contested, many cities are forced to navigate a complex legal environment while doing what they can to promote the safety of their citizens. A recent example of this was seen in August 2025 when a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City returned a 62-million-dollar verdict to the City of Baltimore.[3] This is referred to as “the largest ever verdict a gun dealer defendant has been dealt in American history.”[4]

This verdict followed a trial against Hanover Armory, LLC, the largest ghost gun dealer in Maryland.[5] Ghost guns are fully functional, lethal firearms, sold by commercial manufacturers throughout the United States.[6] They are sold in kits which include an unfinished frame and receiver along with the other parts needed to build a gun without any special materials or skill.[7] Ghost guns get their name because they have no serial number, making them untraceable.[8] Ghost guns were able to surpass federal firearm regulations until a rule passed by the Biden administration required serialization and background checks for ghost gun kits.[9] The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutionality of this rule in Bondi v. VanDerStok,[10] holding that the Gun Control Act of 1968 permits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to include these kits in the definition of firearms, thereby increasing regulation.[11]

Unfortunately, even following the passage of this rule, ghost guns continued to have devastating effects on the city of Baltimore.[12] They were recovered from and traced back to the scenes of many homicides and shootings.[13] In 2022, the Baltimore Police Department recovered 800 guns, 16 percent of which were ghost guns.[14]

In June 2022, Baltimore City brought a Complaint against Polymer80, one of the largest ghost gun manufacturers in the United States, and Hanover Armory LLC (“Hanover Armory”), an Anne Arundel County based firearm retailer.[15] The Complaint alleged that Hanover Armory violated Maryland and Federal firearms law by selling Polymer80’s firearm kits without taking mandated precautions such as background checks.[16] While Polymer80 settled, the case proceeded to a jury trial against Hanover Armory.[17]

The City’s Complaint alleged two separate counts against Hanover Armory: public nuisance and negligence.[18] Regarding public nuisance, the Complaint alleged that Hanover Armory created a dangerous condition for the people of Baltimore City through their practices of selling firearms.[19] The harm caused to the community includes deaths from gun violence, unnecessary demand for medical and law enforcement services, reduction in property value, and “community wide stress, anxiety, and PTSD in neighborhoods afflicted with high levels of gun violence.”[20] All of this led the city to spend significant money mending these harms.[21]

In terms of negligence, the Complaint alleges that Hanover Armory breached its duty of care through unreasonable practices of marketing, selling, and distributing firearms.[22] These unreasonable practices, including a lack of background checks, fueled a criminal market while complicating law enforcement’s efforts to track down and control illegal firearms.[23]

As mentioned above, the verdict returned was significantly larger than past verdicts against firearms dealers, especially in Maryland.[24] Past Maryland firearms cases highlight a hesitance to connect the negative social implications of firearms back to retailers.[25] Despite being the first case of its kind, Mayor of Baltimore v. Polymer80 marks a new era in the fight against gun violence and a growing shift toward connecting faulty business practices with the negative social implications of products.

[1] See, e.g, Mass. Off. of the Att’y Gen., Attorney General Campbell Reaches Historic $600M Settlement with Major Tobacco Manufacturers (Aug. 12, 2024) https://www.mass.gov/news/attorney-general-campbell-reaches-historic-600m-settlement-with-major-tobacco-manufacturers; Nat’l Ass’n of Att’ys Gen., Opioids (last visited Oct. 12, 2025) https://www.naag.org/issues/opioids/; See Mayor of Balt. City, Largest Ever Verdict Dealt Against Gun Dealer Rendered for the City of Baltimore (Aug. 27, 2025) https://mayor.baltimorecity.gov/news/press-releases/2025-08-27-largest-ever-verdict-dealt-against-gun-dealer-rendered-city-baltimore.

[2] Id.

[3] See Mayor of Balt. City, Largest Ever Verdict Dealt Against Gun Dealer Rendered for the City of Baltimore (Aug. 27, 2025) https://mayor.baltimorecity.gov/news/press-releases/2025-08-27-largest-ever-verdict-dealt-against-gun-dealer-rendered-city-baltimore.

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Brady United, Ghost Guns, https://www.bradyunited.org/resources/issues/what-are-ghost-guns (last visited Oct. 4, 2025).

[7] Id.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] 145 U.S. 857 (2025).

[11] See id. at 876.

[12] See Complaint at 6, Mayor of Baltimore v. Polymer80, No. 24-C-22-002482 (Cir. Ct. Balt. City June 1, 2022), 2022 WL 1810013.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Id. at 1.

[16] Id.

[17] See Adam Thompson, Baltimore Scores Big Win with $62 Million Verdict Against Maryland Ghost Gun Retailer, CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/baltimore-city-62-million-hanover-armory-maryland-ghost-gun-retailer/ (Aug. 28, 2025, at 7:43 AM ET).

[18] See Mayor of Balt. Compl. supra note 12, at ¶ 78, 89.

[19] Id. at 80.

[20] Id. at 56.

[21] Id. at 90.

[22] Id. at 95.

[23] Id. at 93.

[24] See Mayor of Balt. City, supra note 3.

[25] See, e.g, Valentine et al. v. On Target, 353 Md. 544 (1999); Kelley et ux. v. R.G. Industries et al., 304 Md. 124 (1983).