NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams and several of his counterparts from other cities vowed Wednesday to hold five top U.S. weapon manufacturers accountable for their role in the country’s gun violence epidemic — and hinted that legal action against the firearm slingers could be forthcoming.
The manufacturers — Glock, Taurus, Smith & Wesson, Ruger and Polymer80 — produced more than half of the guns used for crimes in New York and 11 other major U.S. cities last year, according to fresh data that Adams and a half-dozen fellow mayors unveiled during an afternoon press conference at Gracie Mansion.
Adams, who has made public safety the top priority of his young mayoral tenure, said the way the companies advertise and sell their products is fueling the surge in gun violence that’s swept the nation during the pandemic.
“A $9 billion industry of gun manufacturers made a decision: They’re going to put profit over our public safety,” Adams said. “They’re no different than the cigarette manufacturers of yesteryears, who year after year, knowing that their product produced a dangerous outcome, continued to lie and hide.”
Before the press conference, Adams and the other mayors, among whom were Quinton Lucas of Kansas City and Brandon Scott of Baltimore, met behind closed doors for more than four hours. Adams said a key topic discussed in the sit-down was the potential for bringing legal action against the gun makers.
“If you started looking in desk drawers and using the power of subpoenas, I’m sure you’re going to find information on how particular groups were targeted, knowingly targeted ... in a harmful way,” Adams said.
Brendan McGuire, Adams’ City Hall chief counsel, explained that cities could sue gun manufacturers under “public nuisance” laws.
A claim could be made under those laws that the manufacturers have created a set of conditions that are unhealthy to the public, McGuire said, noting that the city and State Attorney General Letitia James sued a group of ghost gun makers last month on similar grounds.
Glock, whose weapons were the most commonly used in crimes last year, according to the new data, did not return a request for comment Wednesday.
Another issue discussed by the mayors at the Gracie anti-gun summit was the launch of a new “information-sharing” database between cities.
The database would allow enrolled cities to exchange information about gun trafficking suspects and confiscated weapons in their respective jurisdictions.
Scott, the Baltimore mayor, said his city has already set up an exchange with Adams’ administration. He said the relationship has helped resolve gun trafficking cases in his city.
“We will no longer be fighting this alone,” said Adams. “We are going to be armed with information.”
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, who joined Adams in an ABC News morning appearance before the Gracie meeting, described the information exchange as a response to Congress’ relative inaction on gun violence despite a rash of recent mass shootings.
“If this were any other industry and it was as deadly, then the government would have already acted to make sure that we got rid of whatever was killing our citizens, and we haven’t seen that sort of action from the federal government,” Jones said. “We have to look at the root causes and look at other strategies to try to cure gun violence in our communities.”
Bolstering the push for a database, City Councilman Shaun Abreu, D-Manhattan, recently introduced a bill that would require the NYPD and the mayor’s office to publicly identify the locations and details of firearms seizures, including information on gun dealers. Abreu told the Daily News on Wednesday that he expects the bill will be approved by the full Council next month and said it dovetails with the proposals laid out by Adams and the other mayors.
“Cooperation across state lines is a crucial component of combating gun violence in our city,” he said.
Though gun violence incidents have ticked down slightly in the city in recent weeks as compared to the same time last year, Adams has pleaded with the feds for more help in the wake of a string of high-profile shootings, including the cold-blooded killing of a young mother on the Upper East Side last month.
At the Gracie summit, Adams, a retired NYPD captain, stressed that his broadside against the five gun-makers is not aimed at “responsible” gun owners.
“I am not of a mindset that people who are responsible gun owners for responsible reasons should be prevented from owning a gun,” he said. “I own three guns. I go do target shooting. And so that is not what I am saying.”
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