Move FM Global News

BUFFALO, New York: The city of Buffalo, New York has filed a lawsuit in state court accusing major gun manufacturers, including Smith and Wesson, Beretta USA, Bushmaster, Colt and Glock, of fueling violence, through irresponsible marketing and sales practices.

In an effort to combat gun violence, the city is seeking an unspecified monetary award.

In response, Bushmaster said in a statement that it had not fully reviewed the complaint, but stressed that “at first blush it appeared false,” as reported by Reuters.

Under a 2021 New York law that allows lawsuits against gun makers and sellers for creating a “public nuisance” through their business practices, Buffalo is the first city to sue major gun companies.

Buffalo claims that the gun companies created a nuisance by marketing practices that focused on the capacities and ease of concealing their guns, appealing to people with criminal intent, as well as deliberately supplying more guns than needed and failing to stop illegal sales.

According to the lawsuit, the “defendants’ actions have created, maintained, or contributed to a condition in Buffalo that impacts the health and well being of us all.”

A racially motivated mass shooting that took place in the city in May, which killed 10 Black people at a grocery store, involved a Bushmaster rifle.