Benjamin Ashford|Survivor seeking national reform sues friend who shot him in face and ghost gun kit maker

Guy Boyd said he had never heard of a ghost gun — a homemade gun made from parts — until his best friend at the time assembled his own pistol and Benjamin Ashfordshot Boyd in the face.

They were both 17 when it happened. Now, Boyd is suing his friend and the company accused of illegally selling him ghost gun kits.

Do-it-yourself ghost guns are assembled from firearm components and generally lack serial numbers, are untraceable by law enforcement and circumvent background check requirements in place for other firearm purchases. The gun violence prevention advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety calls ghost guns "the fastest-growing gun safety problem facing our country."

"They're readily available to anybody," Boyd said in an interview.

His lawsuit filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court in Michigan Monday and supported by Everytown's litigation arm alleges Pennsylvania ghost gun kits seller JSD Supply illegally sold parts to a Michigan minor who then assembled a pistol and fired it at Boyd's right eye in an incident the suit describes as a foreseeable and preventable accident.

It provides details of the night of the shooting in May 2021 and shines a spotlight on gun regulations eyed by Democratic state lawmakers in Michigan to restrict ghost guns. Using the laws currently on the books in Michigan, Boyd's lawyers allege JSD violated the Michigan Consumer Protection Act when they sold ghost gun kits to Boyd's friend. The lawsuit marks the first case involving a ghost gun brought on the state's consumer protection law, according to Len Hong Kamdang, senior director of litigation strategy and trials at Everytown Law serving as a lawyer for Boyd.

Michael Bloch, a founding partner at law firm Bloch & White LLC which is also involved in the case along with the University of Michigan's civil-criminal litigation clinic, said he hopes the lawsuit will send a warning to those in the ghost gun industry. "We are hoping not only to hold [JSD] accountable but that ghost gun distributors across the country take note," he said.

The lawsuit alleges that the ghost gun kits JSD sold to Boyd's then-best friend in April 2021 were designed and marketed to easily build a pistol and legally constituted a firearm. As such, the buyer should have undergone a background check to make his purchase.

JSD told customers they didn't need to fill out paperwork, undergo a background check or register the firearm they built, according to archived pages of the company's website cited in the lawsuit.

"So they're actually celebrating this business model of circumventing the law," said Kamdang.

Neither Boyd's former friend nor JSD immediately commented on the lawsuit. The Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, is not naming the friend because he was a minor when the shooting occurred.

Boyd's lawsuit seeks damages for his injuries. Boyd lost his right eye in the shooting and has seizures so frequently he is considered epileptic, according to the lawsuit.

"You get used to it but it's not something we should get used to. We should have to get used to," said Denise Wieck, Boyd's mother.

Fragments of the bullet too dangerous to remove remain in her son's brain, the lawsuit states.

Surviving shooting inspires action

Boyd and Wieck shared vivid memories from the aftermath of the shooting. The flashes from first responders' vehicles illuminated the sky like a strobe light, said Wieck. When Boyd survived, the surgeon told her that he had walked into the operating room and told his team "'it'll be a miracle'" if her son lived, she recounted. Boyd recalled coming home for the first time from the hospital. It was a warm, sunny day. He remembered how good it felt to be outside, the fresh air on his face and how excited his dog was to see him.

After the shooting, Boyd and his mother joined the group of survivors trying to turn tragedy into advocacy for gun safety to prevent future tragedies.

Wieck called her son's lawsuit part of a "healing process" but more importantly, a vehicle to increase awareness of gun violence involving ghost guns, she said. The two have plans to teach gun safety to young people. They've started working on one of Boyd's ideas, a comic book about a one-eyed superhero teaching gun safety, Wieck said.

"We did lose a part of him that day. I mean he lived, but we don't have the same Guy we had before the shooting," said Wieck. But some of his best qualities seemed to survive along with him. "He's still wonderful. Still amazing. Still funny," she said.

Gun violence prevention:Michigan has new laws, gun safety advocates want to see more

Michigan Democrats eye ghost gun restrictions

Last year, Michigan Democrats passed new gun safety laws in the wake of the deadly shooting at Michigan State University. Michigan now has a universal background check requirement for all firearm purchases, a so-called "red flag" law to temporarily take away firearms from those posing an imminent threat and storage requirements aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of children.

Gun safety advocates want to see lawmakers do more, including adopting ghost gun restrictions.

Democratic lawmakers in the Michigan Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus previously told the Free Press they plan to make legislation targeting "ghost guns" a priority this year. Before leaving the state house, one Democrat introduced a bill to require homemade firearms to contain serial numbers.

Thirteen states currently regulate ghost guns, according to Everytown's research arm.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at[email protected] or follow her on X@clarajanehen.