LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A company that sells ghost gun kits has been hit with a $104.2 million jury verdict in connection with the death of a Kentucky teenager who bought one of the firm’s pistol assembly kits through its website.
The award, handed down by a jury on Wednesday, is believed to be the largest of its kind ever levied against a gun seller. The two-day trial centered on whether the vendor, Husky Armory LLC, deliberately bypassed federal rules that prohibit the sale of gun-assembly kits to individuals younger than 21.
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A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Henry Willis states that he was 18 years old when he ordered a Glock G19 pistol “build kit” from Husky Armory’s website in 2023. Willis assembled the firearm in his garage — telling his father it was a transistor radio — and took his own life six days after completing it.
Everytown Law, the organization that represented the Willis family, said the $104.2 million judgment surpasses the previous record of $73 million, which was the settlement paid by rifle-maker Remington to families of victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
The verdict arrives more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Biden administration rules requiring that homemade firearms carry serial numbers and that buyers undergo background checks and age verification. Attorneys for the Willis family argued that Husky Armory violated every one of those requirements.
The company’s website had promoted the kit as containing “everything you need to build your own Glock style pistol from the comfort of your home,” and claimed the weapon could be put together by “nearly anyone with a brain,” according to the lawsuit.
Requests for comment sent to Husky Armory LLC and its owner, Cody Yurk, went unanswered. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company did not appear at trial, according to the family and their legal team.
At a news conference held Thursday, Willis’ mother, Laura Herp, remembered her son as a “kind, gentle child” who had been struggling with mental health challenges in the months before his death.
“A child in crisis should never be able to access a deadly weapon,” Herp said. “Companies like Husky Armory thrive off selling to folks who shouldn’t have access to firearms, and they didn’t care who Henry was. They didn’t even bother showing up to the trial.”
A Louisville state court had previously issued a default judgment against Husky Armory after the company failed to respond to the lawsuit. Following the trial, the jury awarded the Willis family $4.2 million in economic damages and an additional $100 million in punitive damages.
“This historic verdict sends a powerful message to ghost-gun sellers who set up businesses to profit by circumventing critical safeguards like background checks and age verification,” said Dana Mulhauser, an attorney with Everytown Law. “Henry should be home with his family today, and Laura deserved more time and opportunity to help her son heal.”
