Everytown Law Announces Settlement in Case Connected to 2021 Fatal Shooting of Virginia Teenagers by Classmate with a Ghost Gun 

Fairfax, VA – Weiner, Spivey & Miller, PLC and Everytown Law today announced a favorable outcome in a lawsuit brought on behalf of the families of two seventeen-year-old Virginia residents who were shot and killed by their eighteen-year-old classmate on April 25, 2021, during an altercation at a friend’s house. 

The lawsuit alleged, among other things, that the defendants manufactured and/or unlawfully and negligently sold what is referred to as a ghost gun kit, through the website 80P Builder, to the teenage shooter without a background check or age verification. None of the defendants have admitted any liability with respect to any claims brought in, or that may have been brought in, this lawsuit. As part of today’s settlement agreement, two of the defendants have warranted that they will not sell or transfer firearms, firearm assembly kits, or pistol frames to customers who have not undergone and passed a background check. Financial and other terms of the settlement are confidential.

“We miss Calvin every day, our lives will never be the same without him,” said Vanessa Van Pelt and Michael Winfield, parents of Calvin Van Pelt. “We turned our grief into action through this lawsuit because no parent should ever go through the loss we’ve felt. Gun sellers should not be allowed to arm underage boys, plain and simple.”

“While nothing will ever bring back our son and brother, we are glad to have made progress in making deadly weapons inaccessible to young people,” said Mashaer Adlan and Komi Elaiaiser, parents of Ersheen Elaiaiser.

As alleged in the lawsuit, the handgun used by the classmate was a ghost gun, an unserialized weapon assembled by the shooter using parts that he had ordered online beginning in February 2021. The term ‘ghost gun’ refers to a handgun that is built by using unfinished, unserialized, and therefore untraceable   firearm components. Those components are purchased either as a kit or as separate pieces, and tools are used to turn the components into a functioning handgun. Instructions for building a handgun from a firearm assembly kit are available online. 

The resolution reached for these bereaved families is a victory for these two families, as well as for all families of victims of gun violence. This case was one of several cases against the ghost-gun industry filed by Everytown Law, the largest and most experienced team of litigators in the United States working to advance gun violence prevention in the courts. Everytown has compiled examples of ghost-gun shootings from across the country since 2013, available here. Everytown’s report on ghost guns, featuring testimonials from law enforcement officers, can be found here.