Key facts
- Husky Armory LLC was ordered to pay $104.2 million in damages.
- The company sold a pistol-building kit to Henry Willis, who was 18 at the time.
- Willis assembled the handgun and used it to end his life six days later.
- The lawsuit alleged Husky Armory circumvented federal regulations on background checks and age verification.
- The verdict is considered the largest ever against a gun seller.
A jury has ordered ghost gun company Husky Armory LLC to pay over $100 million in damages in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Henry Willis, an 18-year-old who died by suicide using a pistol he assembled from the company's kit. The verdict, believed to be the largest ever against a gun seller, was awarded after a trial focused on whether Husky Armory skirted federal regulations.
Willis' family stated that he purchased the Glock G19 pistol "build kit" from Husky Armory's website in 2023 and assembled the handgun in his garage. His mother, Laura Herp, described her son as a "kind, gentle child" who struggled with mental health issues, emphasizing that "a child in crisis should never be able to access a deadly weapon."
Attorneys for the family argued that Husky Armory flouted requirements for background checks and age verification, advertising the product as easily buildable by "nearly anyone with a brain." The company, based in Omaha, Nebraska, did not appear for the trial, and inquiries to the company and its owner, Cody Yurk, were not immediately returned. A state court in Louisville had previously issued a default judgment against the vendor for failing to respond to the lawsuit.
Everytown Law, representing the family, highlighted that the $104.2 million payout surpasses the $73 million settlement awarded to families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by Remington. Dana Mulhauser, an attorney for Everytown Law, stated, "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."