Court Blocks Texas Ghost Gun Manufacturer From Selling in California

The decision comes as anti-gun government policies are under review by the Trump administration.

'Ghost guns' seized in federal law enforcement actions are displayed in a file photo at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) field office in Glendale, Calif., on April 18, 2022. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

A California court has prohibited a Texas-based company from selling machines used for gun manufacturing in the state.

Last year, California filed a lawsuit against Defense Distributed and related entities, accusing them of violating state laws by selling computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines. These machines are used to manufacture “ghost guns,” which are “untraceable, unserialized firearms” that can be produced at home.

The lawsuit is related to two CNC machines sold by Defense Distributed—Ghost Gunner and Coast Runner. On March 27, the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, issued a tentative ruling granting California’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the defendants.

Under the injunction, defendants are prohibited “from selling, offering to sell, transferring, advertising, or marketing the Coast Runner and any other substantially similar CNC milling machine in California pending the outcome of this litigation.”

Back in October 2022, a federal court rejected Defense Distributed’s challenge to the state’s AB 1621 legislation, which makes it unlawful to sell CNC milling machines whose sole or primary purpose is to manufacture firearms.

The same month, the company conceived the Coast Runner, according to the ruling. Both products share similar names, designs, parts, and features, with even the operator’s manual being substantially similar, California complained.

The state argued that Coast Runner was “in fact the Ghost Gunner with a new coat of paint.” The Ghost Gunner website comes with a notice stating that California residents ordering the machine would receive Coast Runner instead, California said.

The lawsuit called the Coast Runner an illegal device “sold to enable its users to make firearms and to violate California’s gun violence prevention laws.” It asked the court to end the defendants’ “flagrant violations” of California law.

The defendants argued that Coast Runner was not intended for the manufacture of firearms since it has been classified as a general-purpose machine by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The court dismissed the argument, stating that Ghost Gunner was “also classified in that manner, and there is no genuine dispute that the Ghost Gunner is intended for firearm manufacturing.”

Defendants further argued that Coast Runner was not identical to Ghost Gunner and that it can be used for other purposes rather than gun manufacturing.

This argument was also dismissed by the court. California has demonstrated that “the primary function of the device is to manufacture firearms and that it is sold with the knowledge (or at least the reckless disregard) that it will in fact be used to manufacture a firearm,” it said.

The court concluded that California “demonstrated that Defendants have likely attempted to evade the law by essentially rebranding Ghost Gunner as the Coast Runner” and issued a preliminary injunction in the state’s favor.

The Epoch Times reached out to Defense Distributed for comment.

Second Amendment Rights

The injunction against Defense Distributed comes as the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7–2 this week to uphold a Biden-era rule regulating ghost guns.

The rule, dating back to April 2022, required individuals who assemble firearms at home to add serial numbers to the guns. It requires background checks to be conducted by dealers for consumers buying gun assembly kits.

The lower courts had blocked the rule before the Supreme Court reinstated the measure in October 2023 and has now upheld it.

The crackdown against ghost guns at the court level is happening as the Trump administration has initiated steps to protect gun rights in the country.

On Feb. 7, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect the Second Amendment rights of citizens, seeking to “halt existing policies designed to curtail the clear right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms,” according to a White House Fact Sheet.

It asked the attorney general to conduct a review of all orders and actions taken by the Biden administration on firearms and deliver a plan to “eliminate all infringements on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said it was investigating the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for potentially violating citizens’ rights when they apply for concealed-carry weapons permits.

Specifically, two individuals alleged that the Sheriff’s Department was delaying their applications by up to 18 months. In response, the department issued a statement citing a “significant staffing crisis” as the reason for the delay.

The investigation is “part of a broader review of restrictive firearms-related laws in California and other states,” the Department of Justice said.