BUFFALO, N.Y. — The City of Buffalo may be taking on the manufacturers of firearms in the near future. It is being seriously considered at City Hall as 2 On Your Side found out Friday.
Following the May 14 mass shooting at the Tops supermarket, Mayor Byron Brown is now saying that gun manufacturers could be the targets of possible lawsuits filed against them by the City of Buffalo.
Brown told us "Yes we are considering lawsuits, yes we are."
When asked about who they would be against Brown did not have a specific answer.
"I can say right now we're doing that legal research but we are considering the potential of lawsuits," Brown said.
2 On Your Side asked if it would be against the manufacturer of the AR-15 but also the Polymer Ghost Guns.
"It very well could be," Brown answered.
The AR-15 is the rifle that law enforcement says the 18 year old suspect used here in Buffalo. And the so-called ghost guns are the kits for home assembly made by Polymer80 and other companies, which Buffalo police have said are turning up more-so on city streets.
That maker of ghost guns is being sued specifically by the City of Baltimore.
The city's ability to launch such a lawsuit may be bolstered by a federal court decision late last month to uphold a state law which was passed to allow communities to pursue such legal action.
In the past federal immunity laws have blocked municipal lawsuits against gun manufacturers. But the landmark lawsuit on behalf of families in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting case in Connecticut netted a $73 million dollar settlement with Remington which makes the AR-15 Bushmaster. That's even though the formerly Ilion, New York company has gone bankrupt and moved to Georgia. Insurers for the firm will reportedly make the payments.
Attorneys say that successful legal strategy was based on the advertising of that gun or its image appeal to potential owners.
So for now Brown says the city corporate counsel and law department attorneys are researching and reviewing for such a case and may bring in private attorneys to help file it as well.
When asked if he though the process would be difficult for the city's law department, Brown replied, "It could potentially be difficult but that's what is required in this moment. What is required is for us to push as hard as we can not to take no for an answer. People's lives are at stake."