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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 illegal for participants in the gun industry to contribute to a condition that “endangers the safety or health of the public through the sale, manufacturing, importing, or marketing of a [firearm].” The law allows suits to be filed by the Attorney General or City Corporation Counsel against manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of firearms.
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 put it: “Addressing gun violence is a top priority of my administration, and I want to tackle this issue on every front. Violence 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.”
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 – the same firearm used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
Both lawsuits target a long list of gun manufacturers, as well as so-called “ghost gun” companies. Ghost guns are manufactured by private individuals rather than manufacturers, and because they lack serial numbers, they’re 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.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Eric Adams filed suit against ghost gun companies.
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’s feet. In both suits, the cities are pursuing damages directly related to the public nuisance posed by firearms.
In Rochester, the suit will seek compensatory and punitive damages, the creation of an abatement fund, and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.
In Buffalo, the suit also seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and the creation of an abatement fund “with sufficient capital to eliminate the public nuisance [the plaintiffs] are creating, exacerbating, and/or perpetuating.”
“The City of Buffalo is not going to let these gun industry members continue to flood our City with illegally possessed guns,” said Cavette A. Chambers, a member of the city’s Corporation Counsel. “We must hold them accountable.”
Napoli Shkolnik is proud to represent the cities 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.