DC, Maryland Sue Gun Shops for Allegedly Contributing to Gun Trafficking

Attorneys general for Washington, D.C., and Maryland filed a lawsuit against three gun shops who allegedly contributed to gun trafficking in the nation’s capital.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and Everytown Law today announced the lawsuit against three federally licensed gun dealers for “illegally selling dozens of firearms to a straw purchaser who then trafficked the weapons,” Schwalb’s office said in a press release on Tuesday.

The press release said that the gun shops—Engage Armament, LLC (Engage), United Gun Shop (United) and Atlantic Guns, Inc. (Atlantic), which are all located in Montgomery County, Maryland—”ignored clear warning signs” and sold weapons to the same man, Demetrius Minor, in 2021.

Minor was sentenced on federal gun trafficking charges in late 2022, and officials said he would take the firearms purchased from the three gun shops being sued and sell them to others illegally.

Washington, D.C., has faced a growing crisis of gun violence, with the nation’s capital recording its highest number of homicides in over 30 years last year. According to the lawsuit, more than 90 percent of these homicides were committed using firearms.

In Washington, the flow of illegal weapons is largely driven by individuals purchasing guns on behalf of those prohibited from owning them, Attorney General Schwalb said.

He noted that roughly 95 percent of the firearms recovered in D.C., despite its stringent gun laws, originate from neighboring states like Maryland and Virginia. While some of these weapons are stolen, the majority are linked to illegal straw purchases, according to firearm trafficking data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“The level of gun violence in the District, and the devastating impact it has on victims, families, and our community as a whole, is unacceptable,” Schwalb said. “This is a regional problem that requires a regional solution, as far too often, guns purchased in Maryland and Virginia are trafficked across our borders and end up at crime scenes in DC.

He continued, “Today we are holding these firearms dealers—businesses that chose profits over safety—accountable for their clear negligence, blatant disregard for the law, and pain they have inflicted across the District and DMV [D.C., Maryland and Virginia].”

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement: “Let this be a warning to other dealers who put public safety at risk to make a profit: We are watching, and we will hold you accountable for illegal conduct that fuels gun violence across our region.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.