When we hold the gun industry and other irresponsible actors accountable, we make our communities safer for everyone.
Everytown for Gun Safety

John–

When a shooter opened fire at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York in May 2022, he killed ten people, wounded three others, and traumatized dozens more. All ten people he killed were Black, and he targeted the area because it is a predominantly Black community.

In two new lawsuits filed on behalf of survivors and families of victims of the mass shooting in Buffalo, Everytown Law is seeking to hold accountable the companies and individuals who are alleged to have made the massacre possible.

When we hold bad actors accountable, we make our communities safer for everyone. Watch this new interview to see how we're working with survivors of the mass shooting in Buffalo to bring this fight to court.

One person puts their arm around another person outside Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York in May 2022, following a mass shooting at the store.

WATCH AND SHARE

The two new lawsuits allege that gun dealers and manufacturers, social media companies, and the shooter's parents each played a role in enabling or failing to prevent this tragedy.

The allegations in these suits include:

  • MEAN LLC. sold an easy-to-remove magazine lock, which the shooter quickly removed from his firearm. Doing so allowed him to possess a fully functioning assault weapon that is illegal under New York law.
  • RMA Armament manufactured and sold the shooter combat-grade body armor, without any verification or vetting. As a result, he was emboldened and protected from defensive fire from the store's heroic security guard during the massacre.
  • Vintage Firearms, a licensed gun dealer, sold the shooter the illegal assault weapon he used in the mass shooting.
  • YouTube is a defectively designed social media product that addicted and radicalized the shooter. It also educated him on how to remove magazine locks and defeat enemy fire.
  • Reddit is a defectively designed social media site that also facilitated the shooter's radicalization. In addition, it supplied information to him that prepared and equipped him for the shooting, including how to get combat-grade body armor.
  • The parents of the shooter knew more than enough about their son's violent tendencies and access to firearms, but failed to intervene.

Everytown Law is helping survivors take legal action because every company and every individual who enables gun violence must be held accountable. Watch this new interview with plaintiff Fragrance Harris Stanfield and attorney Eric Tirschwell to see why this fight is so important.

Thank you for your support and for helping build this movement.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund