The maker of a gun accessory tied to the 2022 Buffalo supermarket massacre agreed to pay $1.75 million to survivors and victims’ families and will stop selling the device in New York, Attorney General Letitia James said. The lawsuit alleged the magazine lock was easily removable and that instructions for removal appeared on the product packaging, enabling the shooter to use high-capacity magazines. Separate agreements were reached with Vintage Firearms and the shooter’s family; Vintage has closed and its owner agreed not to seek a federal firearms license. The shooter, Payton Gendron, is serving life in state prison; a federal trial is expected this year with the Justice Department seeking the death penalty.
Gun-Accessory Maker Agrees To Pay $1.75M To Buffalo Shooting Victims, Will Stop Selling Device In New York
FILE - New York Attorney General Letitia James, center, flanked by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, left, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaks with members of the media during a news conference near the scene of a shooting at a supermarket, in Buffalo, N.Y., May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The manufacturer of a gun accessory linked to the racist 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket has agreed to pay $1.75 million to survivors and families of the victims and to stop selling the product in New York, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday.
Details Of The Settlement
The agreement with Georgia-based Mean Arms resolves a lawsuit brought by Attorney General James and covers claims by multiple survivors and relatives of those killed in the attack at Tops Friendly Market. Attorneys for the plaintiffs also said separate agreements were reached with the gunman’s family and with Vintage Firearms LLC, a seller that has been involved in related legal actions.
Allegations Against The Manufacturer
The case against Mean Arms centered on a device designed to lock a magazine to a rifle. Under New York law, the lock is intended to prevent the use of high-capacity magazines. Prosecutors and plaintiffs alleged that the lock was easy to remove and that Mean Arms printed step-by-step instructions on the product packaging that showed how to remove it, allowing the shooter to fit high-capacity magazines on an AR-15–style rifle.
“We hope that by holding this manufacturer accountable and banning it from selling this device in New York state, we can offer the people of Buffalo some measure of comfort,” Attorney General Letitia James said at a news conference in Buffalo.
Other Agreements And Reactions
Everytown Law, which represented some survivors and relatives, said Vintage Firearms has permanently closed and that its owner agreed not to seek a federal firearms license in the future. Eric Tirschwell of Everytown Law said settlements with the gunman’s parents were confidential. Attorneys for the gunman’s parents, Vintage Firearms and Mean Arms declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Some victims’ relatives attended the announcement and described the settlement as a painful but important step toward accountability. “No one should be able to come into a store and, in two minutes, inflict so much damage to a community, to a family, to children,” said Pamela Pritchett, whose mother, Pearl Young, was among those killed. Young, 77, was a Sunday school teacher who ran a food pantry.
Background On The Attack And Ongoing Legal Matters
Authorities say Payton Gendron, who is white, targeted the Tops supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood. The victims ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included a security guard, a man shopping for a birthday cake, a grandmother of nine and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November 2022 to multiple state charges, including murder, and is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. A federal trial on hate crime and weapons charges is expected this year; Gendron has pleaded not guilty in federal court and the Justice Department said it will seek the death penalty.
What This Means: The settlement holds a manufacturer to account for a device alleged to have been rendered ineffective by design and packaging, secures financial relief to survivors and families, and removes the product from the New York market while related civil agreements have been reached with other parties connected to the case.
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