The City of Philadelphia has resolved its long-running lawsuit against three local firearms dealers accused of fueling gun violence by repeatedly selling guns to obvious straw purchasers. According to a press release from Everytown Law, which served as co-counsel in the case alongside the City’s Law Department and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, lead defendant Delia’s Gun Shop filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy on May 1, 2026, just days before its trial was set to begin.
The two remaining defendants, Frank’s Gun Shop & Shooting Range and WRT Management , agreed to settle with the City. As part of the settlements, the owners of both companies agreed to never participate in the firearms business again. WRT Management also assigned all of its insurance coverage rights to the City, up to a value of $11.9 million.
In the press release, Alla Lefkowitz, managing director of Affirmative Litigation for Everytown Law, stated, “Delia’s could not risk going to trial. The evidence that it had repeatedly engaged in illegal and obvious straw selling was overwhelming.” Lefkowitz added that licensed gun dealers have a legal duty to halt sales when buyer behavior suggests trafficking or straw purchasing.
Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement that the outcome makes Philadelphia residents safer by removing what she described as “negligent businesses” from the firearms industry, and pledged that her administration would continue investing in community-based gun violence prevention programs.
THE FATE OF Delia’s Gun Shop
According to the press release and supporting court filings, Delia’s Gun Shop, which operated for years on Torresdale Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, was the source of 803 crime guns recovered in Pennsylvania between 2015 and 2019. In 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) temporarily suspended the store’s federal firearms license after an obvious straw sale. But according to the City’s filings, the shop never adopted any written policies, procedures, or staff training to prevent future straw purchases.
By 2020, Delia’s was the leading source of crime guns recovered in Pennsylvania with short “time-to-crime” (TTC) intervals, the amount of time between when a firearm is sold by a dealer and when it is recovered in connection with a crime. Law enforcement generally considers a TTC of less than three years to be a strong indicator of trafficking. The City’s investigation alleged that between 2018 and 2023, Delia’s sold at least 33 firearms to eight different customers the shop knew, or should have known, were straw purchasing the guns for others. When asked about those transactions during depositions, Delia’s employees repeatedly invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Eight of the 33 firearms have already been recovered by Philadelphia police and have been connected to 13 separate shootings, with several individual guns linked to multiple incidents. Several of the firearms were used in furtherance of drug trafficking in Philadelphia.
The City’s damages and nuisance abatement experts were prepared to testify that Delia’s owed Philadelphia more than $13 million, comprised of over $3 million in compensatory damages and nearly $10 million in abatement damages. These figures did not include additional punitive damages the City intended to seek at trial.
Instead of facing a jury, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy days before opening arguments were scheduled to begin. A new company run by different owners is now operating at the same location under the name Delia’s Gun Store.
Leaving the Gun Industry
Frank’s Gun Shop & Shooting Range, formerly located in Northeast Pennsylvania, was the source of 264 crime guns recovered in Pennsylvania between 2015 and 2019. The City alleged that the store sold at least 48 firearms to at least 15 different straw purchasers between April 2018 and December 2021. During the litigation, Frank’s federal firearms license was revoked, in part because of its facilitation of straw purchasing. As part of the settlement, the shop’s owner and former manager agreed never to participate in the firearms business again.
WRT Management, which previously did business as Tanner’s Sports Center in Jamison, Pennsylvania, was the source of 239 crime guns recovered in Pennsylvania between 2015 and 2019. According to the City, WRT sold at least 79 firearms to at least 11 different straw purchasers between April 2019 and May 2021. WRT’s owner has agreed to permanently exit the firearms industry. Further, in the most financially significant component of the settlements, the company has assigned its insurance coverage rights to the City, up to $11.9 million.
a growing push for accountability
The Philadelphia case adds to a growing body of lawsuits by cities and states aimed at holding gun dealers civilly accountable for sales practices that contribute to gun violence. In February, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reached a $1 million settlement with retailer Fleet Farm that requires the company to overhaul its sales practices across its 17 Minnesota stores. And in April, Baltimore secured a $2 million settlement from Hanover Armory, with the company agreeing to discontinue sales of ghost gun kits, machine gun conversion devices, bump stocks, and forced-reset triggers, and to alert city officials of attempted straw purchases.
For Philadelphia residents, the bottom line is that three of the dealers most frequently linked to the City’s crime guns will no longer be selling firearms. More information about the case, including the underlying court filings and expert reports, is available through Everytown Law.