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Nearly three years after 18-year-old Henry Willis killed himself after buying a ghost gun online, a Louisville jury awarded his mother more than $100 million in damages. The out-of-state seller Husky Armory LLC and its parent company Up North Media LLC didn’t respond to the lawsuit, show up for the trial or defend themselves.
It’s the largest dollar amount awarded by a jury against a gun dealer in the country, according to the lawyers in the case.
A judge issued a judgment against the gun sellers last year as they continued to ignore the lawsuit. The jury trial was held solely to determine what the companies owed Laura Herp, Willis’s mother, after her son killed himself days after buying and building a handgun he legally was not allowed to have.
Herp said Thursday it was incredibly sad to attach a value on her son’s life, but that gun sellers “need to be held accountable.”
“Companies like Husky Armory thrive off selling to folks who shouldn't have access to firearms, and they didn't care who Henry was,” Herp said. “They didn't even bother showing up to the trial. No amount of money can bring my son back, and nothing will ever make this right.”
Husky Armory did not respond to requests for comment.
The kits are called ghost guns because manufacturers sell them as parts, without serial numbers or the usual background checks. The parts sold to Willis in 2023 were an “80% build kit.” On their website at the time the lawsuit was filed, Husky Armory said the kits “help you build your own ghost gun at home.” Similar kits are still listed on Husky’s website, but are listed as out of stock — with an option to “join waiting list” for a restock.
A 2022 Biden-era rule requires background checks and serial numbers for certain gun kits and a U.S. Supreme Court decision last March upheld that policy.
“The company sold Henry a ghost gun kit online. They didn't verify his age. They didn't do a background check,” said Tad Thomas, the founder of Thomas Law Offices who represented Herp alongside Everytown Law.
“They didn't follow any of the rules that pertain to firearm sales. This case is not about lawful gun ownership. This was an illegal gun sale that the company chose to make for profit.”
Herp described her son as smart and sensitive, and said that in the months before he died she saw his mental health issues take “away his joy.” A recent graduate of Seneca High School when he died, Everytown lawyer Dana Mulhauser said he was a good student and avid reader.
“For a variety of reasons, including his age, Henry could not have bought a handgun legally, either by walking into a gun store or by buying one from a legal online seller. As far as we know, he didn't even try to buy one legally,” Mulhauser said. “But Husky Armory, they bypassed his parents, they bypassed the law, and they shipped a lethal weapon right to his door.”
Willis was too young to purchase a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer in Kentucky. Federal law also prohibits individuals convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence crime from possessing a firearm. According to court records, Willis was found guilty of domestic violence assault resulting in minor injury in March 2023.
Everytown Law has filed lawsuits over the gun kits in several other states, including Virginia, where a teenager with a ghost gun killed two other teens, and in Michigan, where a teen accidentally fired a ghost gun, wounding another.
“This lawsuit is part of a broader and what has been actually a quite successful effort to address the proliferation of ghost guns over many years, starting in the 2017-2018 time period around the country,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law. “We're going to keep those efforts up and make sure that this scourge across the country is addressed and continues to be addressed.”
Legislation the Kentucky General Assembly passed this year seeks to limit the civil liability of gun sellers for the crimes people commit with their firearms. However, Thomas said it does not apply to cases involving illegal sales of ghost guns because the new law only protects lawful sales.
