New Jersey Leading Partnership to Reduce Gun Violence Through Civil Enforcement of State Laws

TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that 16 Attorneys General have formed a multistate coalition to hold irresponsible firearms industry members accountable for their devastating impact on gun violence.

This multistate coalition, the first of its kind, aims to reduce gun violence through the coordinated enforcement of the States’ respective civil liability and consumer protection laws, among other authority, thereby promoting public safety and saving lives.

“Together with my fellow Attorneys General, I will fight to protect our state residents from the wanton disregard for human life caused by bad actors in the firearms industry, which contribute to rising gun violence,” said Attorney General Platkin. “This is not about curtailing lawful gun ownership. This is about protecting our communities from irresponsible business practices that contribute to unsafe gun proliferation, the kind that leads to mass shootings in our churches, synagogues, schools, shopping malls, concerts, and supermarkets.”

“These lawsuits are part of our overall effort to treat gun violence like the public health crisis that it is—which has resulted in the lowest level of gun violence ever recorded in New Jersey. As Attorneys General, this is what we do: we hold bad actors accountable when they violate our laws in ways that make our residents less safe. The firearm industry is no exception, period.”

“Gun violence is a national crisis, demanding a unified response,” said Ravi Ramanathan, Director of the Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement Office (SAFE), which is tasked with enforcing New Jersey’s gun industry public safety law through civil remedies. “Our coalition will continue to send a clear message that we intend to stop reckless business practices that endanger the public.”

In the first action of the coalition, Attorney General Platkin and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed lawsuits in their respective state courts against gunmaker Glock, for violations of their respective State laws. The lawsuits allege that Glock handguns can easily be configured to fire automatically as illegal machine guns by affixing an inexpensive add-on component commonly known as a “Glock switch.”

The States joining the coalition today all share the same goal of holding members of the firearms industry — including manufacturers, distributors, and sellers — accountable when their business practices result in unlawful sales, gun trafficking, and other outcomes that put lives at risk.

In New Jersey, SAFE has sued gun stores for repeated sales to unverified buyers, a gun show operator and gun show vendor for targeting the sale of ghost gun products to state residents, and a gun store for failing to properly store its guns overnight as required by state law, which resulted in the theft of twenty weapons.

Many of the offices joining the multistate coalition have pursued civil enforcement in their jurisdictions under their respective state law authorities:

• In 2024, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb sued three federally licensed gun dealers for illegally selling dozens of firearms to a straw purchaser who then trafficked the weapons, mainly into Washington, DC.
• In 2023, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong sued four out-of-state firearm dealers for selling and advertising illegal, untraceable ghost gun parts in violation of Connecticut’s 2019 ban. Connecticut has since reached civil settlements with three of the four dealers recovering penalties totaling $885,000. Two of the dealers have ceased operations and a third has committed to putting in place strong controls and reporting to ensure ongoing compliance with Connecticut law.
• In 2023, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings began investigating Cabela’s, Inc. for about a half-million rounds of ammunition that were shoplifted from its Christiana location. The probe, which was backed by a U.S. District Court judge earlier this year, is examining whether Cabela’s has violated various laws, including Delaware’s firearms industry public nuisance law, through its lax approach to this shoplifting.
• In 2022, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued a gun retailer and its owner for unlawfully selling over 3,600 large-capacity  magazines. The parties entered into a consent decree in 2024, with the defendants agreeing to pay the state $3 million for violating Washington law.
• In 2021, California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined with the San Francisco District Attorney to sue three manufacturers and sellers of ghost guns kits. The parties entered into a stipulated judgment in 2024 prohibiting the defendants from manufacturing or selling ghost gun kits in California and requiring them to pay $675,000 in civil penalties.
• In 2020, the District of Columbia filed suit against Polymer80, a ghost gun manufacturer and distributor, for selling unserialized, untraceable firearms to Washington, DC residents. In 2022, the District won a landmark $4 million court judgement against the company, which was found liable for making false and misleading claims about the legality of its products.

The nation’s gun violence epidemic causes more than a massive loss of life. A Joyce Foundation report published earlier this year on state civil enforcement efforts noted that gun violence results in over $500 billion in economic losses annually in the United States.

In addition to New Jersey and Minnesota, the other States joining the coalition are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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SAFE is a first-in-the-nation office focused on firearms industry accountability. The SAFE Office was established by Attorney General Platkin in 2022 to exercise the Attorney General’s authority under the gun industry public safety legislation, P.L. 2022, c. 56, and to facilitate the efficient and effective administration of laws pertaining to gun violence.

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