PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s lawsuit against three gun shops for alleged illegal sales has been settled, with two of the former shop owners agreeing never to sell guns again and the third declaring bankruptcy.
The lawsuit, filed nearly three years ago, charged that Frank’s Gun Shop and Delia’s Gun Shop in Northeast Philadelphia, and Tanner’s Sports Center in Bucks County repeatedly sold guns to customers who were obviously “straw” purchasers; that is, people who buy guns intending to sell them to felons and others who aren’t legally permitted to own guns.
The suit said that from 2018 to 2022, police recovered 1,300 guns involved in crimes that were bought at just those three stores, including 158 that were straw purchases. It also charged that the three gun stores cost the city millions of dollars by selling to straw purchasers.
The suit was set to go to trial this month but on Friday, Delia’s former owner declared bankruptcy, ending its defense. The former owners of Frank’s and Tanner’s had already agreed to stop selling guns and Tanner’s former owner turned over its insurance coverage to the city.
Chief Deputy Solicitor Lydia Furst handled the litigation for the city. “It seems to us that in all cases, the stores saw that they didn’t really stand a chance at trial because we had strong evidence,” she said.
According to Furst, Tanner’s insurance coverage could allow the city to recover up to $11.9 million. She added, though, that the settlement achieves the suit’s broader goal.
“This is a really, really great result because all three of these gun shops, which we identified as being the worst actors in the city, are now out of business,” she said.
Tanner’s and Delia’s are still operating under the same name but with new ownership. Frank’s owner now leases his shop to a store called “Tons of Guns.” None of the former owners could be reached and their attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
