Jury Awards Largest Ever Verdict Against Gun Dealer to Family of Kentucky Teen in Lawsuit Against Online Ghost-Gun Seller Husky Armory

$104 Million Damages Award Sends Powerful Message to Ghost-Gun Industry After Sale of Ghost-Gun Kit to Underage Teenager, Resulting in His Death by Handgun Suicide  

LOUISVILLE, KY – Everytown Law and Thomas Law Offices today announced that a Kentucky jury has awarded $4.2 million in economic damages and $100 million in punitive damages to Laura Herp, the mother of Henry Willis, in her lawsuit against online ghost-gun seller Husky Armory LLC and its parent company, Up North Media LLC. Ms. Herp, as administrator of Henry’s estate, sued the Defendants for negligence and negligent entrustment after Husky Armory sold a gun-building kit to Henry on July 6, 2023, when he was only 18 years old, based on allegations of violation of numerous federal firearms laws. Just six days after receiving the kit by mail, Henry died by suicide on July 30, using a handgun built from the kit.

The verdict is believed to be the largest in U.S. history against a seller of firearms. 

“Husky Armory robbed our family of the time we needed to help Henry out of crisis,” said Laura Herp, Henry’s mother. “No amount of money can bring my son back, and nothing will ever make this right, but it is my hope that this verdict will serve as a strong deterrent to bad actors across the gun industry. I know that far too many families already share my pain; to me, this was always about making sure no one else experiences a tragedy like ours.” Henry is also survived by his father, brothers, grandparents, and dear friends.

“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, Deputy Director of Affirmative Litigation at Everytown Law and co-lead trial counsel. “The jury recognized that Husky Armory’s actions – selling a ghost gun to an underage teenager in the midst of a mental health crisis – had devastating, real-world consequences. It is well documented that putting time and space between a person in crisis and a firearm saves lives. Henry should be home with his family today, and Laura deserved more time and opportunity to help her son heal.”

“Henry’s death was a preventable tragedy and should never have happened,” said Tad Thomas, founder of Thomas Law Offices and co-counsel for Ms. Herp. “When a company ignores federal law and sells ghost gun kits without basic safeguards, it puts vulnerable people directly in harm’s way. Companies that disregard their duty to protect others cannot operate without consequences.”

The Jefferson Circuit Court, which is a Kentucky state court located in Louisville, issued a default judgment against the Defendants on October 24, 2025, after they failed to respond to the lawsuit. The subsequent trial, held in front of 12 jurors on July 14 and 15, was solely to determine damages.

The jury heard evidence that the unlicensed Defendants operated a business model designed to skirt federal firearm dealer laws, which require those engaged in the business of selling firearms to be licensed and require purchasers from licensed dealers to appear in person and undergo a background check. Federal law also prohibits licensed dealers from selling handguns to anyone under 21. These requirements are intended to insure that firearms are not sold to individuals who are prohibited from possessing them or otherwise pose a danger to themselves or others. The defendants ignored these requirements and did not do a background check, which Henry Willis would have failed.  Instead they boasted “No FFL” (Federal Firearms License) and “No Registration.”  The jury also heard evidence that licensed dealers are trained not to sell to individuals who exhibit erratic behavior or appear to be in mental distress, and that a licensed gun dealer likely would not have sold Henry Willis a gun for the additional reason of his open and obvious signs of mental distress at the time of the sale.

Because the gun-building kit was readily convertible to a firearm, and because it contained a nearly finished firearm frame, it was subject to federal firearms laws and regulations. In fact, the kit included a nearly finished Polymer80 Glock-style frame – the same type of frame at the heart of the United States Supreme Court ruling in Bondi v. VanDerStok, which affirmed that such frames and kits are firearms under federal law and that those engaged in the business of selling such weapons must comply with all federal gun-sale requirements, including obtaining a federal firearms license and running background checks. Neither Husky Armory nor its parent company is a federally licensed firearms dealer.

The manufacturer of the kit sold to Henry Willis by the defendants – Polymer80 –  shuttered in 2024.  Since then, and to this day, Husky Armory continues to advertise similar ghost gun kits from a different, foreign-based ghost gun manufacturer named Geisler Defence. 

Further details about the case and the defendants’ ghost gun sales can be found in the complaint, here.

Suicide by firearm is a leading cause of death in the United States. Young people have one of the fastest-growing rates of firearm suicide of any age group in the past decade. This crisis is especially acute among boys and young men: nearly 90% of young people lost to firearm suicide are male. These trends are pronounced in Kentucky, where children and teens face a higher share of gun deaths by suicide than in the nation overall – 36% of gun deaths every year among children and teens in Kentucky are suicides, compared with 29% nationwide. Overall, an average of 539 people in Kentucky die by gun suicide every year – a rate of 11.4 suicides per 100,000 people. More information regarding the specifics of this case can be found here.

Everytown Law is the largest and most experienced team of litigators in the U.S. working to advance gun violence prevention in the courts. Everytown Law has been and is involved in multiple lawsuits seeking accountability from bad actors in the gun industry. Evertown Law has also been involved in other lawsuits involving online sales of ghost guns to teens–sales that resulted in devastating consequences. It was co-lead counsel in a Los Angeles public lawsuit against Polymer80 resulting in  a $5 million settlement shortly before trial.   Other cases include litigation on behalf of the cities of Chicago and Philadelphia against some of the largest suppliers of crime guns into those cities; against Glock for failing to address the ease of convertibility of its pistols; and on behalf of victims of mass shootings at the Old National Bank in Kentucky; and in Buffalo, N.Y.; Uvalde, Tex.; Highland Park, Ill.; and Boulder, Colo. 

Thomas Law Offices is a nationally recognized law firm headquartered in Louisville, Ky., with offices in Chicago, Ill.; Des Moines, Iowa; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Columbia, Mo. Founded by Tad Thomas in 2011, the firm is known for representing individuals and families injured due to negligence and for its leadership in complex, nationwide litigation. The firm is committed to justice both in and out of the courtroom. Learn more at www.thomaslawoffices.com or call 855-THOMASLAW.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org/chat to chat with a counselor from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free, and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress anywhere in the US.

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