Baltimore City Hall on Monday announced a settlement with Hanover Armory, the Anne Arundel County gun shop the city sued over so-called “ghost guns.” Under the deal, Hanover will pay $2 million to the city, which officials say will replenish funding for Baltimore’s gun-violence prevention program. The agreement follows a $62 million jury verdict handed down last August that the company appealed.
The mayor’s office detailed the agreement and, as reported by WBAL, said Hanover will pay $2 million and route the money to programs that had lost federal support. Mayor Brandon Scott said in the city’s news release that “this case sends a clear message: we will not tolerate irresponsible gun dealers,” calling the settlement a measure of accountability for dealers who he says have flooded communities with untraceable weapons.
Verdict, appeal and context
A six-person Baltimore jury awarded the city $62 million in August 2025 after finding that Hanover Armory’s sales of unserialized kits contributed to violence, the City of Baltimore said. Hanover Armory later appealed that verdict, The Daily Record reported.
Where the $2M will go
WBAL reports the $2 million will be used to restore the city’s gun-violence prevention program; that story adds the program’s federal support was cut by the Trump administration last year. City officials framed the payout as immediate relief for community violence-intervention work and noted it is the second ghost-gun-related settlement Baltimore has secured in roughly a year.
Background on the litigation
Baltimore previously reached a settlement with ghost-gun maker Polymer80 in February 2024 that included $1.2 million in damages and injunctive terms, the City of Baltimore said. Authorities have documented a sharp rise in ghost-gun recoveries; the AP reported that Baltimore police seized hundreds of unserialized firearms in recent years. A local outlet covered the case when it went to trial last year…