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\nA Louisville family is suing an online firearms dealer after they say the company sold their teenage son a ghost-gun kit without verifying his age or performing a background check, which \u2018directly enabled\u2019 his death by firearm suicide.<\/p>\n
Everytown Law, a law firm that works to advance gun violence prevention, and Louisville-based Thomas Law Offices announced the filing of the lawsuit against Husky Armory and its parent company, Up North Media LLC, on behalf of Laura Herp, the mother of Henry Willis, on Monday, July 28.<\/p>\n
According to a press release, on July 6, 2023, Husky Armory sold 18-year-old Henry Willis a gun building kit from its website, the same gun kit he would use days after receiving it in his death by suicide.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit argues the gun kit qualifies as a firearm under federal law since it was designed to be and was converted into a weapon. It references a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bondi v. VanDerStok, where the kits were affirmed as firearms under federal law and thus have to follow federal requirements on gun sales, including sales coming through licensed dealers and background checks.<\/p>\n
According to the lawsuit, neither Husky Armory nor Up North Media LLC is a federally licensed firearms dealer.<\/p>\n
The complaint also argues the company was prohibited from selling a handgun to Henry Willis because he was under 21 years old and he would have failed a background check since he experienced a mental health crisis in the months prior to his death, including being diagnosed with schizophrenia and PTSD.<\/p>\n
During the crisis, Henry had been arrested, pleaded guilty, and was subject to a protective order that required him to surrender any firearms. He was receiving psychological treatment leading up to his death.<\/p>\n
According to the release, those factors would have come to light in a legal firearm sale and prevented him from buying a gun.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the complaint argues that an in-person sale with a responsible and trained gun dealer wouldn\u2019t have happened given Henry\u2019s demeanor and appearance, making it clear he was unfit to buy a weapon.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit was filed in Kentucky state court and is seeking a trial for negligence and negligent entrustment from the company.
\nSource: WAVE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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