Philadelphia streets have seen a 152% surge in ghost guns recovered between 2019 and 2020, with over 80 already seized in 2021 alone—many traced back to unregulated sales at Pennsylvania gun shows. Now, after a pair of undercover operations by the Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force, the state’s largest gun show promoter, Eagle Arms Productions, has agreed to ban the sale of 80% receiver kits—the core components of untraceable “ghost guns.” This marks the first known ban of its kind by a gun show promoter in the United States.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro, flanked by Rep. Amen Brown and State Senators Vincent Hughes and Tony Williams, announced the agreement Wednesday following surveillance at the Morgantown Gun Show, hosted by Eagle Arms. Investigators tracked purchases of Polymer 80% receiver kits directly to the assembly and street sale of fully functional, unserialized firearms in Philadelphia. One buyer made $500 per ghost gun sold and was tied to a criminal enterprise. A follow-up raid on a house in the city uncovered an illegal gun manufacturing and trafficking operation.
Ghost guns, assembled from 80% receivers sold without background checks, lack serial numbers and evade tracing by law enforcement. Once fully built, they operate as standard firearms. According to Shapiro, these DIY kits are increasingly exploited by prohibited individuals—convicted felons, domestic abusers, and others legally barred from owning guns. “These weapons are fueling the gun violence epidemic,” Shapiro said. “Criminals shouldn’t have a loophole to build untraceable firearms in their garage.”
Eagle Arms Productions hosted 15 gun shows from January to April 2021, accounting for 32% of all gun shows in Pennsylvania during that period. The company’s decision to halt 80% receiver sales came only after OAG’s investigation exposed direct links between its events and violent crime. One such case involved a Polymer80 9mm handgun used in two homicides in Snyder County in July 2020. The suspect, legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, built the weapon from a kit purchased at an Eagle Arms event.
Rep. Brown emphasized that the agreement bypasses stalled legislation, calling it a “collective effort” to protect communities now. “I pulled the parties together because waiting for policy change costs lives,” he said. The move pressures other promoters nationwide to follow suit. Shapiro urged all gun show operators to contact his office to implement similar safeguards, stressing that voluntary action can have immediate impact on public safety.
Philadelphia has recovered 99 ghost guns in 2019, 250 in 2020, and more than 80 so far in 2021. Federal and local agencies continue joint investigations into trafficking networks exploiting loopholes in firearm regulation. The OAG warns that without tighter controls, ghost guns will remain a growing threat in urban and rural communities alike.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: Pennsylvania AG
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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