Michigan teen who alleges his underage friend shot him with a ghost gun in 2021 sues an online supplier

A 19-year-old Michigan man who alleges in a lawsuit his then-best friend shot him in the face in 2021 with a ghost gun is suing the supplier he says illegally sold the underage friend the parts to assemble the weapon.

A 19-year-old Michigan man who alleges in a lawsuit his then-best friend shot him in the face in 2021 with a ghost gun is suing the supplier he says illegally sold the underage friend the parts to assemble the weapon. The lawsuit, filed by Guy Boyd on Monday in Michigan’s Washtenaw County Circuit Court, names Pennsylvania-based JSD Supply and Boyd’s then-best friend for 10 years, Kyle Thueme, as defendants, accusing them both of negligence. The online gun parts retailer, whose kits the lawsuit says can be used to assemble ghost guns, also is accused of engaging in unfair and deceptive trade and marketing practices in violation of Michigan’s Consumer Protection Act. The shooting happened in Michigan on May 31, 2021, when Boyd and Thueme were both 17 years old, the suit says. The lawsuit alleges JSD Supply had unlawfully sold two sets of ghost gun kits to a minor, Thueme, which he used to build “fully operational pistols in minutes,” without verifying his age or whether he could lawfully possess a firearm. Ghost guns are self-assembled, generally untraceable firearms, often put together with parts sold online. They have no serial numbers, do not require background checks and feature no transfer records for easy tracking. Critics say they are attractive to people who are legally prohibited from buying firearms. Boyd permanently lost his right eye as a result of the shooting and suffers from significant memory loss and debilitating anxiety as well as “ongoing chronic and debilitating seizures that have nearly killed him and will continue to impact almost every aspect of his daily life,” the suit says. “He was not expected to live, but he’s here with us today and we are here to make a change,” Boyd’s mother, Denise Wieck, said during a news conference on Tuesday. “We’re taking our pain and turning it into purpose, and we really hope everyone realizes that something needs to be done.”