{"id":14742,"date":"2023-01-10T16:16:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T21:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/18fbf770e8.nxcli.io\/?p=14742"},"modified":"2023-01-23T18:45:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T23:45:38","slug":"buffalo-and-rochester-file-landmark-suits-against-gun-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/buffalo-and-rochester-file-landmark-suits-against-gun-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo and Rochester File Landmark Suits Against Gun Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Napoli Shkolnik is representing the cities of Buffalo and Rochester in two separate lawsuits against gun industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The suits were brought under a law signed in 2021, which makes it illegal for participants in the gun industry to contribute to a condition that \u201cendangers the safety or health of the public through the sale, manufacturing, importing, or marketing of a [firearm].\u201d The law allows suits to be filed by the Attorney General or City Corporation Counsel against manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rochester lawsuit was announced at a press conference on December 20, 2022, targeting firearm industry members for their role in a gun violence crisis in the city. As Rochester Mayor Malik Evans<\/a> put it: \u201cAddressing gun violence is a top priority of my administration, and I want to tackle this issue on every front. Violence prevention<\/a> 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

In Buffalo, the lawsuit follows the tragic shooting earlier this year at Tops Friendly Market, in which 10 people were killed and three were wounded by a gunman who targeted the popular market in a predominantly Black area for racial reasons. The Buffalo shooter used a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle in the attack \u2013 the same firearm used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both lawsuits target a long list of gun manufacturers, as well as so-called \u201cghost gun\u201d companies. Ghost guns are manufactured by private individuals rather than manufacturers, and because they lack serial numbers, they\u2019re much harder, or even impossible, to trace. Ghost gun companies sell kits, fixtures, uppers, stocks, and lower parts kits to enable individuals to build untraceable firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

But the Rochester and Buffalo suits break new ground. These suits target a broad spectrum of the gun industry, placing responsibility for thousands of firearms recovered from crime scenes squarely at the industry\u2019s feet. In both suits, the cities are pursuing damages directly related to the public nuisance posed by firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rochester, the suit will seek compensatory and punitive damages, the creation of an abatement fund, and reimbursement of attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Buffalo, the suit also seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and the creation of an abatement fund \u201cwith sufficient capital to eliminate the public nuisance [the plaintiffs] are creating, exacerbating, and\/or perpetuating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe City of Buffalo is not going to let these gun industry members continue to flood our City with illegally possessed guns,\u201d said Cavette A. Chambers, a member of the city\u2019s Corporation Counsel. \u201cWe must hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Napoli Shkolnik is proud to represent the cities<\/a> of Rochester and Buffalo in these landmark lawsuits against gun industry, aimed at limiting the use of firearms in violent crimes and improving safety and quality of life in both cities.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Napoli Shkolnik is representing the cities of Buffalo and Rochester in two separate lawsuits against gun industry. The suits were brought under a law signed in 2021, which makes it…<\/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-14742","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\/14742","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=14742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18071,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14742\/revisions\/18071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}