interactive website offering illegal-in-CT ghost guns wasn't covered by CUTPA, but any sales were

Connecticut v. Indie Guns LLC, NO. (X06) UWY-CV23-6072307S, 2026 WL 2322641 (Ct. Super. Ct. Aug. 6, 2026)

The state sued Indie Guns for selling illegal ghost guns into Connecticut. Indie Guns defaulted, but the court only granted partial default judgment—merely having an interactive website doesn’t make the company subject to the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), although selling illegal products into the state is deceptive and unfair in violation of the law.

“[A]n out-of-state or foreign company that operates an interactive internet website is not, on that basis alone, engaged in trade or commerce in Connecticut.” And CUTPA requires such in-state trade or commerce, so this isn’t about personal jurisdiction but the scope of the law.

The state argued that the website was deceptive and unfair because it advertised its products to all consumers without warning of their illegality, and offered to sell to Connecticut consumers.

A violation of a Connecticut criminal statute such as the ban on ghost guns does constitute a CUTPA violation via unfairness. Unfairness requires considering: “(1) [W]hether the practice, without necessarily having been previously considered unlawful, offends public policy as it has been established by statutes, the common law, or otherwise—in other words, it is within at least the penumbra of some common law, statutory, or other established concept of unfairness; (2) whether it is immoral, unethical, oppressive, or unscrupulous; (3) whether it causes substantial injury to consumers, [competitors or other businesspersons].” “Inarguably, selling and delivering illegal gun parts in Connecticut readily satisfies all three criteria.”

So too with deception, which requires (1) a representation, omission, or other practice likely to mislead consumers; (2) interpreted reasonably under the circumstances; that is (3) material. “When a defendant sells a product to a buyer, the defendant represents, expressly or implicitly, that the product is legal in the state in which the buyer purchases or receives delivery of the product.” (Given that this was a test buy, there was no actual deception, but the state as enforcer isn’t required to show that.)

But there liability ended. CUTPA  defines “trade” and “commerce” as “the advertising, the sale or rent or lease, the offering for sale or rent or lease, or the distribution of any services and any property, tangible or intangible, real, personal or mixed, and any other article, commodity, or thing of value in this state.” (Emphasis added.). Actual sales/shipment to Connecticut definitely constitute engaging in trade or commerce, but not “the mere existence of an interactive website.” Although this does require the AG to wait until illegal products are shipped to Connecticut, so it creates some risk, that’s a policy decision for the General Assembly to make. (The court also commented that reaching Connecticut via distributors or other independent contractors would support application of CUTPA to a manufacturer.)

In part because of the default, we don’t actually know how many times Indie Guns sold into Connecticut. “Those practical challenges are likely why the state focuses on the Indie Guns’ website, rather than on gun sales, as the basis for imposing civil penalties. Those practical challenges, however, do not permit the court to speculate about the extent of Indie Guns’ sale of illegal gun parts to Connecticut consumers. Nor do those challenges permit the court to ignore the geographic scope limits of CUTPA.”

The state was entitled to judgment that Indie Guns acted willfully when it sold a ghost gun part to the investigator. But the state didn’t seek the $5000 maximum penalty for that sale. It was entitled to a permanent injunction against sales into Connecticut.