TRENTON, N.J. — On July 15, the office of the New Jersey Attorney General announced the latest in a series of legal actions against Pennsylvania-based retailer and gun show operator Jordan Vinroe, alleging he facilitated the importation of “ghost guns” into New Jersey and, in so doing, allowed those prohibited by law from acquiring firearms.
In a somber press conference, both New Jersey Attorney General Davenport and Acting SAFE Director Jeremy Ershow offered dark narratives about how Mr. Vinroe has single-handedly increased crime in New Jersey, but the lawsuit tells another story.
The suit is a civil action brought under the state’s civil “public nuisance” statute aimed at the gun industry (N.J.S.A. 2C:58-35). (The suit was filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Mercer County.) Not only does the 85-page complaint not allege any criminal allegations, but it seeks mostly monetary damages for the state for “…expended additional resources to deter, interdict, and mitigate crime effectuated or compounded by Ghost Guns.”
The suit’s specific allegations are as follows:
Vinroe’s deliberate refusal to implement point-of-sale controls enabled people convicted of serious or dangerous crimes, convicted sex offenders, minors, people subject to domestic violence restraining orders, and others who cannot legally own, possess, or purchase a gun – as well as traffickers of illegal guns – to easily and covertly acquire lethal weapons.
The suit is a continuance of legal actions initiated in 2023, in which it sued the holding companies for two of Mr. Vinroe’s businesses, JSD and Eagle, under the same public nuisance clause. In May of 2026, after the state moved for sanctions, Mr. Vinroe filed bankruptcy for both companies. New Jersey responded, “The extensive harm that Vinroe personally caused the residents of New Jersey therefore still remains unremedied.”
But the “extensive harm” is difficult to put a finger on from any angle.
The sales of the offending parts kits were legal under both Pennsylvania and federal law, and the only crimes alleged were the possession and import of the kits by individual New Jersey residents into the state, which made it a crime to possess or sell completed “ghost guns” in 2018.
New Jersey itself, according to the attorney general during the same conference, experienced the “lowest shootings ever recorded in 2025.”
The complaint alleges that “Ghost Guns account for a large number of the crime guns recovered at New Jersey crime scenes every year,” yet the state’s numbers show a declining trend since 2023 and show that “ghost guns” account for only 6% of crime gun recoveries overall, a negligible number.
Closing out the press conference, Acting SAFE Director Jeremy Ershow threatened, “If you put public safety at risk and evade the law… we will hold you accountable.”
In a tone-deaf assertion, Mr. Ershow previously opined, “Think about who wouldn’t want a background check or serial number on a gun,” perhaps unaware that such an audience would include the vast majority of New Jersey gun owners. He also repeated an observation made previously by Mr. Vinroe: “Anywhere where the gun laws are very strict is where you see people wanting products the most.”
For his part, Mr. Vinroe seems to support the American tradition of building firearms at home. In a marketing statement, he asserted, “JSD was founded in a love of guns and hate of paperwork. Since 2013, we’ve helped thousands of people build their own gun from the privacy of their garage. No serialization, no background check, no government fee.”
The state maintains a high burden of proof in this case in which it simultaneously argues that “Ghost guns are a clear and direct threat to public safety,” while also contending that violent crime is at a historic low. In a related statistic, according to the state’s permit to carry dashboard, it has issued over 110,000 permits to carry a concealed firearm.
It might be true that firearms are flooding into New Jersey, but nearly all of them through legal means with federal and state background checks, much to the chagrin of Governor Sherrill, AG Davenport, and the Democrat-led lawmaking body.
