MICHIGAN, USA — A 19-year-old Michigan man who lost his right eye after being shot with a firearm made from a ghost gun kit filed a lawsuit Tuesday against his former best friend who accidentally shot him and the Pennsylvania company that sold his friend the kit.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, alleges that JSD Supply sold two ghost gun kits in April 2021 to Guy Boyd's then-17-year-old friend without verifying the friend's age or whether he could legally possess a pistol.
Boyd, who also was 17, was shot in the face less than two months later. He also suffers from “ongoing chronic and debilitating seizures that have nearly killed him and will continue to impact almost every aspect of his daily life,” according to the lawsuit.
“This case is about the known and obvious dangers of arming a teenager with a gun, a company that cavalierly ignored these dangers, and a young man whose life was shattered because of it," Boyd's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
It was not immediately clear what criminal charges, if any, were filed against Boyd’s former friend, who was a minor at the time of the shooting, said David Santacroce, one of Boyd's lawyers.
The Associated Press left a message Tuesday with the county prosecutor about the shooting case.
The lawsuit accuses JSD Supply and Boyd's former friend of negligence. The Associated Press was unable to reach the former friend, now 19, for comment, and is not naming him. JSD Supply in Prospect, Pennsylvania, didn't immediately respond to a voicemail and an email seeking comment.
The lawsuit alleges that JSD Supply “proudly, publicly, yet falsely advertised that the guns assembled from its kits required no licensing, could be owned completely ‘off-the-books,’ and required ‘absolutely no paperwork.’"
New Jersey's attorney general sued JSD Supply and another company in December alleging that they tried to sell ghost guns which are illegal in that state.
Ghost guns are privately made firearms without serial numbers. Generally, guns manufactured by licensed companies are required to have serial numbers — usually displayed on the weapon's frame — that allow authorities to trace them back to the manufacturer, firearms dealer and original buyer.
Ghost guns, however, are made of parts that are assembled into weapons at home. The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver. Some are sold in do-it-yourself kits and the receivers are typically made from metal or polymer.
On April 9, 2021, the teen named in the Michigan lawsuit allegedly purchased ghost gun build and completion kits online for $464.97 and had them shipped to his home in Ypsilanti, about 36 miles (58 kilometers) southwest of Detroit.
His mother found the first assembled pistol and took it away because he was underage, the lawsuit says.
Eighteen days later, he purchased two more of the companion kits for $474.97 and also had them shipped to his home.
Boyd and the teen had been best friends for more than 10 years and were drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana with two other friends in late May 2021 when the gun was pointed at Boyd and the trigger was pulled.
“The last thing plaintiff Boyd remembers from that night is (his friend) saying, after he had shot him, ‘I love you, bro,’” according to the lawsuit.
Doctors were unable to remove all of the bullet fragments, and some remain in Boyd's brain, the lawsuit says.
“Mr. Boyd brings this action seeking relief for his injuries and trying to prevent such an avoidable tragedy from ever happening again,” according to the lawsuit which says the amount in damages exceeds $25,000.
A jury would decide on the amount of damages if the lawsuit succeeds, Santacroce said.
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