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Baltimore Reaches Settlement With Hanover Armory Over Ghost Guns

City officials say the deal uses court oversight to curb untraceable guns.

Overview

  • The agreement, announced Monday, requires the Maryland retailer to change its sales practices for ghost guns, which are unserialized and hard to trace.
  • Hanover must alert Baltimore when a prohibited buyer tries to purchase a firearm and when staff suspect a straw purchase by someone buying for another person.
  • The company must file comprehensive annual reports that detail all firearm and accessory sales to give the city a clearer view of its pipeline.
  • The settlement bars sales of unserialized gun kits and conversion devices such as Glock switches, bump stocks, and forced reset triggers that can boost a gun’s rate of fire.
  • Hanover will pay $2 million to restore city violence‑prevention programs cut from federal funding, and the city’s $62 million jury verdict from August 2025 remains on appeal after a prior $1.2 million Polymer80 deal that officials say preceded a sharp drop in ghost‑gun recoveries.