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Two websites that distribute instructions for how to manufacture ghost guns are facing a new lawsuit from the state of California alleging that they provide access to illegal and untraceable firearms.
The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, is aimed at the Gatalog Foundation Inc. and CTRLPEW LLC.
The lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court argues that the websites violated multiple state laws, including the distribution of computer code and guidelines for 3D printing firearms, illegal large-capacity magazines, and other firearm-related products.
According to the lawsuit, the websites offer computer code and instructions for more than 150 designs of lethal firearms and prohibited firearm accessories. The lawsuit said state officials as part of their investigation downloaded the code and instructions from the website “with a few simple keystrokes” and used it to build a Glock-style handgun.
“These defendants’ conduct enables unlicensed people who are too young or too dangerous to pass firearm background checks to illegally print deadly weapons without a background check and without a trace,” said Bonta. “This lawsuit underscores just how dangerous the ghost gun industry is and how much harm its skip-the-background check business model has done to California’s communities.”
The defendants could not be reached for comment. In addition to the two websites, the lawsuit names as defendants three men: Alexander Holladay, who the lawsuit identifies as the Gatalog Foundation’s principal; John Elik, who is identified as its director; and gun rights attorney Matthew Larosiere.
Larosiere in a 2019 interview with the Mercury News characterized ghost guns as a legal hobby for firearms enthusiasts.
“It is, and always has been, legal for ordinary adults to make firearms for their own personal use,” he told the newspaper. “These people tend to be dedicated hobbyists. Home-built firearms have been around as long as our nation, and today in a country of 300 million people, we rarely ever see them used in crime.”
The proliferation of ghost guns has increased dramatically over the past decade in California, resulting in what the lawsuit refers to as a “public safety crisis.” According to the lawsuit, California law enforcement agencies recovered 26 ghost guns in 2015. Since 2021, agencies have recovered an average of more than 11,000 ghost guns per year, the lawsuit said.
“Because they are not serialized, ghost guns are effectively untraceable by law enforcement,” the lawsuit stated. “And because they are manufactured privately, often in one’s home, they bypass critical safeguards like background checks. In this way, ghost guns unlawfully circumvent traditional gun control measures.”
The lawsuit detailed particularly stark examples of the dangers that 3D printed firearms have posed, including the arrest of a 14-year-old boy who used a 3D printer to manufacture multiple firearms in Santa Rosa in 2024.
Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and vice president of GIFFORDS Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement that the organization has previously partnered with Bonta to stop three ghost gun companies from operating throughout California.
“But a new generation of irresponsible gun industry actors are trying to unlawfully arm minors, people with felony convictions, and domestic abusers by letting them 3D-print their own guns without any background checks,” he said.
Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.
