Just a day after the City of Boston abandoned its lawsuit against the firearms industry, opting instead for the voluntary cooperation of the industry to reduce gun violence, Jersey City, New Jersey officials announced they will sue gun makers for criminal and accidental misuse of firearms.
In an unbroken string of defeat for antigun groups urging cities to sue the industry, every appellate court in the nation to decide a municipal firearms case has ruled in favor of the industry and dismissed the case.
“We are surprised and disappointed that Jersey City is choosing expensive and time-consuming litigation rather than following Boston’s leadership to embrace cooperation and communication as the best way to reduce the criminal and accidental misuse of firearms, goals our industry has long supported,” said Lawrence G. Keane, vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade association.
Keane added, “After three years of expensive and time-consuming litigation, the City of Boston in dropping its suit this week acknowledged that the firearms industry has a genuine and longstanding commitment to reducing accidents and working cooperatively with law enforcement.”
In October of 2001 representatives from the firearms industry met with Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham and discussed the industry’s firearm safety programs and partnerships with law enforcement to aid its enforcement of firearms laws. “Our repeated efforts to continue a dialogue with the mayor, regrettably, have been ignored,” Keane observed. “We remain hopeful, however, that the mayor will embrace cooperation as the path forward and we stand ready to renew our discussions. But, we are prepared to, and will, defend ourselves in court if we must.”