New York sues 15 gun dealers

New York City has filed a lawsuit against 15 gun dealers in five states identified as selling firearms in violation of federal law.
The suit asks the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York to prohibit illegal gun sales, appoint a special master to monitor the dealers, and require sellers to submit to mandatory training.
Moreover, it seeks compensation for the cost of abating the nuisance created by these defendants, compensatory damages to New York City and punitive damages in order to deter other rogue dealers from engaging in the illegal practices described in the complaint.
The 15 gun dealers named in the lawsuit are located in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia and were targeted because of the large number of guns that have been traced back to them following crimes committed in New York City.
Based only on the incomplete data available to the city, more than 500 guns allegedly used to commit crimes and recovered by the police have been traced to these 15 gun dealers between 1994 and 2001.
In his January State of the City speech, Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged to target dealers who sell guns illegally and hold them accountable for their actions.
“Today, we are sending a clear message to rogue gun dealers across the nation: Straighten up and follow the law or face the consequences,”
Bloomberg said. “This lawsuit is major step forward in our efforts to keep illegal guns out of our city … It’s time to hold these dealers responsible for their illegal actions and that’s exactly what this lawsuit intends to do.”
Prior to filing suit, investigators from the James Mintz Group, a private investigative firm employed by the city, traveled to five states to confirm what gun trace data had already shown probable – that these gun dealers were violating federal laws governing firearms sales.
The investigators, in teams of two, entered gun stores and followed a scenario commonly known as “straw purchasing,” where one individual makes all of the inquiries into purchasing the gun, and then the other individual, completely uninvolved in the sale process, fills out the required federal forms to pass the background check. Federal law prohibits licensed dealers from selling firearms to individuals when they have a reasonable belief that the firearm being sold is not for the person who purports to be the purchaser.
All 15 dealers named in the suit sold a gun to a team of undercover investigators, who wore hidden cameras during their sting operations.
Of the stores that they visited, one-in-three dealers refused the sale, confirming the fact that dealers know and understand the law.
Even in the face of obvious “red lights” that should have immediately ended the discussion between dealer and customer, including that the straw purchaser did not participate in the transaction until the time came to fill out the federal forms and did not pay for the gun, two-thirds of the targeted dealers sold to the straw purchaser.
The New York law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP will field a team of ten pro-bono litigators to appear on behalf of the city and assist in the litigation.
“This litigation has the potential to improve the safety and security of every New Yorker, by helping stanch the flow of illegal guns into the city,” said Ken Taber, chair of the litigation group of Pillsbury Winthrop.