Philadelphia reaches agreement with 2 ghost gun suppliers to stop selling products in the city
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia leaders celebrated on Wednesday and believe they took a big step in the fight to get ghost guns off city streets.
Two major suppliers of ghost guns reached an agreement with the city to stop selling their products, which have been entering Philly at an alarming rate.
Police commissioner Kevin Bethel says ghost guns have become a "nightmare" for law enforcement in Philadelphia. His department says it has rounded up more than 1,000 of the privately made guns in just the last two years. But officials said they hope this can be a turning point.
The city announced settlements with Polymer80 and JSD Supply, which officials called two of the largest ghost gun suppliers in the nation. The lawsuit began last year under then-Mayor Jim Kenney.
But the work on it began more than two years ago, and city solicitor Renee Garcia says it became very personal to her very quickly.
"The next day, literally the next day, I found a Polymer80 handgun outside my house, on the sidewalk, broad daylight, fully loaded, one in the chamber," Garcia said.
With the settlement, Polymer80 would now be prohibited from ever selling or advertising ghost gun kits in Philadelphia.
It also blocks the company from selling or advertising kits in eight surrounding counties for four years.
Polymer80 also agreed to pay the city $1.3 million over four years, which will go toward gun violence prevention.
In the settlement with JSD Supply, the company will stop selling ghost gun kits in Pennsylvania for four years. It will also block vendors from selling ghost guns at the JSD-run Eagle Show gun show events for two years.
Law enforcement officials say the guns have shown up more and more over the years, including at the Kingsessing mass shooting last year and last week's shooting at a Ramadan celebration in West Philly.
"Six guns were recovered, two of those weapons were ghost guns," Bethel said. "So you can see the direct impact that has on our community and the work that we do."
Polymer80 has yet to respond to a request for comment, and we were unable to reach JSD-Supply.