{"id":14607,"date":"2022-12-22T16:12:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T21:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/18fbf770e8.nxcli.io\/?p=14607"},"modified":"2022-12-22T16:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T21:12:10","slug":"mayor-evans-announces-city-lawsuitagainst-firearms-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/mayor-evans-announces-city-lawsuitagainst-firearms-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Evans Announces City Lawsuit
Against Firearms Companies<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


<\/strong>City of Rochester Mayor Malik Evans was joined today by Corporation Counsel Linda S. Kingsley and attorneys from Napoli Shkolnik to announce the City is filing a lawsuit in State Court against firearm industry members for their role in fueling the gun violence crisis in the City of Rochester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suit seeks to hold manufacturers, makers, importers, and distributors of firearms responsible for the illegal and unreasonable sale, manufacture, distribution, importing, and marketing of firearms. The City seeks compensatory and punitive damages, the creation of an abatement fund, and reimbursement of attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gun violence in Rochester has surged over the past two years, as it has across the country. Possible causes include economic stress linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, national civil unrest, and the increased availability of illegal firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defendants, such as Beretta, Smith & Wesson, Glock, Remington and Bushmaster, and Ghost Gun companies like Polymer 80 and Arm or Ally, manufactured or distributed thousands of firearms recovered in crimes committed in the City of Rochester and New York State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAddressing gun violence is a top priority of my administration, and I want to tackle this issue on every front,\u201d said Mayor Malik Evans. \u201cViolence prevention requires a multitude of strategies and a significant amount of collaboration. This is just the latest tactic I will dedicate to eradicating gun violence in Rochester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth before and since the declaration of a state of emergency, my office has been focused on nuisance abatement, drug activities, and other criminal conduct \u2013 and guns are inextricably linked to all of it,\u201d said Corporation Counsel Kingsley. \u201cWe appreciate the team at Napoli Shkolnik for supporting our efforts to combat this deadly problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing grocery shopping, walking home from school\u2026these mundane activities should not result in gun violence incidents,\u201d said Partner Salvatore C. Badala of Napoli Shkolnik. \u201cThe City of Rochester refuses to ignore the full scope of those responsible for innocent lives being lost, and is taking action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A New York State law signed in 2021 (A.6762B<\/a>\/S.7196<\/a>) allows for \u201cpublic nuisance\u201d civil lawsuits to be brought against gun manufacturers and dealers, bypassing the blanket immunity provided to the industry under federal law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 25, 2022, the Hon. Mae A. D\u2019Agostino, District Court Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, upheld New York\u2019s Public Nuisance Law enabling the Attorney General or City Corporation Counsel to sue manufacturers over harms caused by weapons produced and distributed. The law (General Business Law, Section 898 (a-e)<\/a>, says that \u201cno gun industry member\u2026shall knowingly or recklessly create, maintain or contribute to a condition in New York\u2026 that endangers the safety or health of the public through the sale, manufacturing, importing or marketing of a qualified product.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Eric Adams filed similar litigation against ghost gun companies this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 6, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a state legislative package to immediately strengthen the state’s gun laws, close critical loopholes exposed by shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde Texas and protect New Yorkers from the scourge of gun violence that continues to infect our nation and endanger our communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 25, President Biden approved gun legislation at the federal level providing millions of dollars to the states for gun intervention programs and mental health services. The federal laws further strengthen background checks for potential gun buyers under the age of 21 and closes other loopholes in existing statute preventing those convicted of domestic abuse from purchasing a gun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

News Media: For more information, contact Communications Director Barbara Pierce at Barbara.Pierce@cityofrochester.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The City of Rochester administration of Mayor Malik D. Evans<\/strong> is committed to promoting positive systemic and structural change by providing transparent and collaborative leadership, offering equitable access to essential municipal services, enabling productive intergovernmental, private, and non-profit partnerships, and promoting increased quality of life through investments that create vibrant neighborhoods and employment opportunities, making Rochester a hope-filled city with an exciting future. For more information, visit http:\/\/www.cityofrochester.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Napoli Shkolnik <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Napoli Shkolnik is a national law firm that represents victims and governmental entities across the country in complex litigation, arbitration, and mediation related to a number of practice areas. As it relates to governmental entities, the firm recently secured landmark verdicts in the New York jury opioid trial, in which many \u2018Big Pharma\u2019 companies were found liable in the state\u2019s deadly opioid crisis; and the national opioid trial in Ohio where national pharmacy chains were confirmed to have fueled the opioid epidemic by flooding communities with painkillers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News Articles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
City of Buffalo sues gun manufacturers, calling them a threat to public health in lawsuit, CNN (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Buffalo files lawsuit against gun industry, MSN, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
NSSF Rejects City of Buffalo\u2019s Frivolous Lawsuit Against Firearm Industry Members, NSSF (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
City of Buffalo files first of its kind lawsuit against gun industry, ABC News (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
City of Buffalo suing gun industry members , WIVB4, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
City of Buffalo files lawsuit against firearm industry members, WGRZ, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Congressman Brian Higgins Issues Statement in Support of Buffalo Lawsuit Against Firearm Industry, Higgins House Gov, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Buffalo Sues Firearms Makers Over Gun Violence And Deaths, Law360.com (December 20, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
City of Buffalo Files Lawsuit Against Firearms Companies, Buffalony Gov, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Brown files lawsuit against firearms industry, Audacy, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Rochester suing gun manufacturers as part of anti-violence efforts , WXXI News, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Mayor Evans Announces City Lawsuit Against Firearms Companies, City of Rochester Gov, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
I Want to See my Grandchild Grow up: These Attorneys are Fighting Gunmakers, Law.com, (December 20, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
City of Rochester to sue gun manufacturers over local violence, CNY, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
The city of Rochester is suing the gun industry as violence continues, ENews, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
City of Rochester takes aim at gun manufacturers, Rochester Beam,(December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr>

Buffalo Files Massive \u2018First of Its Kind\u2019 Lawsuit Claiming Gun Companies Have Created a \u2018Public Nuisance\u2019. Law and Crime, (December 21, 2022)<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City of Rochester Mayor Malik Evans was joined today by Corporation Counsel Linda S. Kingsley and attorneys from Napoli Shkolnik to announce the City is filing a lawsuit in State…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[772],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-litigation"],"acf":[],"page_builder_type":"gutenberg","gutenberg_data":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}