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Following California AG’s lead, Clark will go after firearms industry for gun violence. Opponents call it ‘fear mongering’
By Madeline Armstrong, in The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Attorney General Charity Clark is joining a coalition of 18 other attorneys general that aims “to hold irresponsible firearms industry members accountable for their actions that proliferate gun violence.”
“Gun violence is a national issue that demands a united response, and we will work to eliminate reckless practices that endanger our citizens,” organizer and California AG Rob Bonta said. “In response to the Trump Administration’s disregard for gun safety measures, my fellow attorneys general and I stand united in our commitment to protect our communities. This effort aims to ensure national safety, not to limit responsible gun ownership. We will hold firearm industry members accountable for dangerous and illegal business practices that fuel gun violence and put profits over people’s lives and safety.”
According to a press release from the attorney general’s office, the coalition plans to take concrete action by working together to leverage and enforce each state’s existing civil liability and consumer protection laws.
A spokesperson for the attorney general said that in California specifically, the California DOJ plans to build off recent efforts to mitigate the sale of ghost guns – an industry that sells “finish-it-yourself” gun products without dealer licenses, background checks, serial numbers or other safety requirements. Sellers claimed there was a loophole in gun safety laws because they were selling gun build kits, just unfinished enough that they didn’t qualify as firearms. Since ghost guns are not registered, they are only accounted for when recovered from crime scenes, meaning they were used for violence.
“In recent years, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) has prioritized affirmative civil litigation efforts to stop the ghost gun industry from selling skip-the-background-check access to unserialized firearms and address the proliferation of these unserialized ghost guns in crime nationwide,” reads the statement. “DOJ pursued multi-year litigation against leading ghost gun companies for engaging in dangerous and illegal business practices that fuel gun violence.”
A recent study released by the DOJ Office of Gun Violence Prevention in October found that California has been uniquely impacted by the ghost gun crisis. From 2017-2021, California accounted for 12% of all guns recovered from crime nationwide with 55% of those guns being ghost guns. Additionally, from 2019 to 2021, the number of ghost guns recovered increased by 592%. However, since 2022, California has seen a decline in the recovery of ghost guns.
“Among other important responses to the ghost gun crisis, California enacted nation-leading legislation to reform the ghost gun industry, with many major provisions taking effect in the middle of 2022,” reads the report. “Since then, the number of ghost guns recovered as crime guns in California has dropped significantly. From 2021 to 2023, law enforcement agencies reported a 23% decrease in the number of ghost guns recovered from crime in California.”
Earlier this year, Bonta and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins reached a settlement with Blackhawk Manufacturing, GS Performance LLC and MDX Dorporation over claims that the companies illegally sold ghost guns.
“The manufacture and sale of ghost gun kits has created a largely chaotic industry that is a massive threat to public safety,” Bonta said. “As firearm-related deaths and injuries rise, we must look for upstream interventions that get to the crux of the gun violence epidemic. Getting these manufacturers and retailers to keep untraceable ghost guns off the market is a big win for public health and safety in California.”
While the DOJ said they cannot make an announcement at this time about legislation they support or specific actions they will take as a part of this coalition, they do support legislation “to reform the ghost gun industry, codify a firearm industry standard of conduct and empower victims of gun violence to seek fair justice in court for harms caused by unlawful violations of law.”
However, the California Rifle & Pistol Association says that the announcement of this coalition and focusing on ghost guns is “fear mongering.”
“Once again, the Attorney General prefers to use fear mongering to attack the rights of law-abiding citizens while supporting policies that put the citizens in harm’s way by being soft on crime,” reads a statement from Rick Travis, legislative director for CRPA, saying that Bonta should put legislative priorities elsewhere. “The Attorney General should focus on getting the tens of thousand of Armed Prohibited Persons off our streets before he uses tragedies to politically grandstand.”
The other states a part of the coalition are Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
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Categories: Court, Gunrights, National News
Funny how these same people don’t seem to have a problem with guns when someone attempts to assassinate Trump or when Luigi Mangione murders an insurance company CEO. Then they celebrate it. As for root causes, they don’t seem to be interested when the mass shooter is inevitably a demented LGBQ+++ type and/or on psychiatric drugs. Nor do they question how a kid amasses a small arsenal; where do they get the money, how do they purchase the guns, where were the parents? And talk about Red Flag laws, all these mass shooters telegraph their intentions long before they take action through their ongoing behavior, social media etc. Yet nobody takes action.
Thank you. Being a victim of psychiatric drugs I saw the connection years ago.
How many people get killed every year by people using cars and truucks a lot more than gun deaths. Might as well sue the auto makers, you can keep going with this insanity.
Give her time !
What about crimes committed with any manner of household and work shop items. But perhaps even more important what about crimes comitted ever day in abortion clinics… murder of the unborn. What about crimes committed in hospitals using protocols which are designed to kill.
The guns do not commit the crime nir do the manufacturers. Deranged people commit crimes for a whole variety of reasons. Address that and also be tough on crime because consequences are a good deterrent.
Headline fixed:
“Vermont AG going after farmers for obesity involving food production”. 😂
If California was to go for that, she will too !
Headline fixed:
“Vermont AG going after all distilleries, breweries, wineries, and liquor stores in Vermont for automobile deaths in which alcohol is a factor.”
What would you expect from Charity Clark ? If California sneezes, she’s their Keenex !
Guns don’t shoot themselves.
Lets go after the military industrial complex which DOES have AI controlled weapons …trained on US domestically… drone testing anyone?
Classic case of deflection (it wasn’t me that put guns in the hands of criminals) and transference. Mental health issues anyone? These people just can’t see the nose on their faces…
Does anyone notice that the least aggredious offenders are the low hanging fruit… and targeted because you know… its not really about solutions, but virtue signalling…and
TAKING AWAY OUR ARMS.
Second Amendment folks…
GUNS DO NOT SHOOT THEMSELVES. Fundamental missing information for the AGs – maybe a course in human psychology?
“The ghost gun crisis”…”get to the crux of the gun violence epidemic”…just the latest manifestation of Trump Derangement Syndrome and a rebirth of the “resist” movement. The firearms industry is not engaging in “dangerous and illegal business practices that fuel gun violence” any more than Ford or Toyota are engaging in promoting drunk driving. Leftist extremists who accuse Trump of being a threat to democracy have no problem finding ways to violate the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) and in Burlington to threaten Vermont’s pre-emption law by attempting to ban firearms in liquor-licenced establishments. There are already tough, existing federal and state firearms laws that are routinely not being utilized against violent perpetrators. There is no need for any additional laws until pertinent existing ones are enforced to the letter. Charity Clark is a nitwit with too much time on her hands. Anyone who voted for this clown should consider undergoing a thorough psychological evaluation.
If any of their logic made sense, it would follow that pencils make our spelling errors, not us. That cars cause the accidents we get into.. That pianos play the wrong notes. We’re totally not responsible.
As I’ve said many times before, the money for these lawsuits, which will all end in failure, doesn’t come from an ATM at the State House. It comes from our taxes. Yours and mine. I’m sure all of us could come up with several dozen areas where this money would be better spent and not wasted
But the individuals who kill people with guns are not charged due to restorative justice. The truth is that the entity that wants guns taken from civilians is the United Nations.
ms. clark is spending your money in her virtue signaling quest for fame. Litigation on this won’t be cheap and it remains to be seen if the manufacturers have the bucks to defend themselves all the way to the USSC- but this coalition of liberal totalitarians does have virtually unlimited tax dollars to spend.
Perhaps if there was a different ideology present in Vermont’s AG office, money might be spent directing State’s Atty’s to prosecute criminal cases, enforce existing laws regarding repeat and habitual offenders and drug dealers. ms. clark appears unable to make the connection between crime and punishment but assuredly sees the connection between donors and her campaign funds.
What is the process to fire the Vermont AG? Shouldn’t they be doing stuff to stop real crimes? Self-built firearms have always been, and still are 100% legal. There is no such thing as a ghost gun, BOO! There are tens of millions of self-built firearms in America. If you don’t like it, move to Mexico or something.
Serial numbers on firearms almost never help solve any crimes, but they do contribute to illegal government tracking databases that get leaked to the public over and over (as we have seen in California), and greatly endanger the public.
How about all the crimes created because the “Justice system” has let habitual offenders out over and over again. Go sue yourself you anti-American disgusting imbeciles. Enemies of the 2nd amendment and 4th amendment 5th amendment, and accepting money from communist Chinese funded gun disarmament lobby groups from California.
Shameful! You are the reason our justice system has lost all credibility by the people.
As you point out, having serial numbers is not a big factor in solving violent crimes involving firearms. Catching the scum who engage in violence is not the difficult part of the equation…prosecuting them seems to be, and that has little to do with tracing the origin of their tools. Hobbyists who are into guns, cars, photography, home brewing, home improvement, antique tractors etc etc are all able to buy component parts to assemble and customize things. Some of those things are potentially dangerous. That has nothing to do with the intent of the person in possession. The left wing, victimhood-worshiping moonbats abhor the concept of self-defense. They tend to rely on government to quell all of their life’s anxieties. If they choose only to call 911 and cower in a closet when they hear their door being kicked in at 2am, that is their problem.
GUNS KILL PEOPLE
CARS DRIVE DRUNK
SPOONS MAKE PEOPLE FAT 😀
A. G. Calamity Clark needs more money for the state and to keep the lawyers busy. BLACKMAIL,BRIBERY, AND EMBEZZLEMENT ARE A DIRTY BUSINESS.
Attorney General Charity Clark virtue signals by proposing to legislate against firearms manufactures. A move that will do nothing to stem Vermont’s body count tied to opiate trafficking and addiction.
Charity needs to be put on notice. Not all Vermonters are as gullible as those in Chittenden County. This year, somewhere between 200-300 Vermonters will die in opiate related assaults and overdoses. Yet such legislation would not have prevented a single death.
Low information voters need to understand. Charity has the means to significantly curtail opiate trafficking with resulting crime. But electively chooses not to. Hence, like it or not, Miss Charity has the blood of hundreds of Vermonters on her hands.
Ms. Clark needs to hear from us.. Go To the Vt. AG’s web site and let her know we’re pissed..
Attorney General Charity Clark is just another liberal hack by the sounds of this, one would think being the ” Attorney General” that she would prosecute the perpetrators of all crimes, so are you telling me that Ms. Clark will be going after automakers as vehicles are used in all sorts of offenses, and people died, or how about a vehicle killed someone while the operator was on a cell phone ??
All the AG is doing is siding with her leftist party lines or anti-gun lobbyist, I can’t believe she is this moronic to go down this hole.
Well, now we see her real colors, agenda-driven non-Constitutional AG, where do we find these people, Oh yeah Phil Scott supported her………….enough said !!
” I can’t believe she is this moronic to go down this hole.” Believe it ! She’s just another wacky liberal looking for a way to make a name for herself !
When will our elected officials learn that California is no longer the promised land, it’s a hemorrhoid on the butthole of progress . It is made up of fruitcakes and half wits that have bought into the socialist, “what’s good for the collective” B.S. line of every failed socialist regime, and everybody can see how well it is working in California . Yup, California, the gold standard….for failure ! Follow the leader !
Dear AG’s, guns don’t kill people. People kill people, whether by stone, hammer, pillow, poison, or gun. Sounds like discrimination to me. Why not go after the people who have the ability to make the decision to harm someone? Because regardless how dark one’s soul gets, they still have a sliver of conscience that realizes it’s wrong.
The AG is a Leftist and like one of her former heroes, Chairman Mao, she knows that “power comes from the barrel of a gun” so they have to somehow remove private ownership of firearms so that the Government is the sole possessor of that power.
The lack of Common Sense in Vermont every time it raises its unintelligent ignorant head, It still finds a way of surprising me. My comment I say usually under my breath is, ” how can people be so stupid “. Having said that, . . . . perhaps all car dealers need to re-think their responsibility every time there is an accident. Perhaps manufacturers of knives, baseball bats, and even lead pipes need to re-think their responsibility too, as they too have been used to kill people. The TRUTH – Guns, cars, knives, baseball bats, and metal pipes never have killed one person, . . . ever. People owning /using these objects cause the deaths. Sometimes on purpose, and other times by accident. At no time are the manufacturers of these items guilty for how someone else uses them, or the dark heart bent on killing someone. Another TRUTH – if someone wants to kill someone, they will always find a way and a tool to complete the job.
the blue state AG’s, speaks volumes
Is she going against the gun manufacturers because the gun was faulty and didn’t work right or was it the end user?
One would think that as an attorney she would know the difference, and that a faulty gun would NOT be covered under the PLCAA. But as a leftist extremist, she does not acknowledge the existence or the significance of the PLCAA. To her, the gun and it’s manufacturer are always at fault and that the criminal actions of a human being are the broader result of an uncaring and unequitable society.
The U.S. leads the world in gun violence. Ain’t that something to be proud of? Any attempt to curb the insanity is worth trying.
@jdevino1791 – You seem to lack quite a bit of cognitive ability with regards to understanding cause an effect. Guns are nothing more than a distance tool used to defend and protect life. If we didn’t have weapons, only the largest gangs and strongest people would rule everything. Guns are responsible for millions of saved lives and an amazing tool to protect women from the inherent disparity of force that exists in nature as one example.
There is no such thing as “gun violence”, there is only people violence. The biggest people violence involving guns seem to be in areas with the most gun restrictions. Other countries have a much worse crime rate. If your government actually cared about curbing violence, they wouldn’t be stealing our money to fund endless wars all over the world, and they would be keeping violent criminals away from society.
The great thing about living in a free country is we have a right to self-defense, and your opinion about that right is meaningless. If you love being in a disarmed society where only criminals can have guns, then why don’t you think about moving somewhere else?
Yes we should be very proud to live in a country where we are empowered to be responsible for our own security. Poverty is the number one cause of increase in crimes. Your government is the number one cause of poverty. If you want less crime, maybe you should start supporting those people in office who don’t want to spend your money on disarming the good guys, while empowering criminals.
“Your privilege is showing.”
The US also leads the world in crime PREVENTION by legally-armed citizens taking responsibility for protecting themselves, loved-ones and innocent crime victims. Guns allow for stopping criminal perpetrators FROM A SAFE DISTANCE I am too old to want to engage in hand-to-hand combat with some fearless thug with nothing to lose.
Guns can be used to PREVENT harm in a variety of ways without ever being fired.
If someone is trying to prevent an imminent threat, just the mention of a gun being available can be sufficient to quell it. If that doesn’t work, revealing it’s shape under clothing may work. If the threat persists, it can be displayed at one’s side. If necessary, the sound of a slide being racked or a hammer pulled back is a powerful auditory convincer that you are serious. If then necessary, it can be pointed.
If that still doesn’t get the message across, a warning shot ramps up the sound level
so that intent is unmistakable. If the threat is ongoing, there is the option of a non-lethal wound to incapacitate the attacker and hopefully alleviate the threat. Many options exist before a lethal shot is resorted to.
True, “gun violence” is a shame and in a perfect world would be nice to eliminate, but if I hear my door being kicked in at 2am, I fully reserve the right to engage in “gun violence”.
The two comments to jdevino1791 are spot on. The problem is that blockheads like J will never understand that taking the the God given right of self-defense from good people will do nothing to stop the bad people. Violence is never going to go away, criminals have existed since the dawn of time. It always takes a good person with a gun to stop a bad person with a gun, that’s why police have them. The reality is that not all people live anywhere near a police station and they are minutes or hours away when seconds count. The recent incident of the police officer shot twice by a repeat felon with an illegal shotgun just proves that gun control doesn’t work for criminals. Each and every felon arrested in Vermont for drug or murder offenses have all had illegal firearms. There are currently over 21,000 state, local and federal gun laws in the USA and murder is and always has been illegal. The problem is that Americans who are liberal just can’t allow their feelings to interfere with reality. Our very own Attorney General is one of them. Thank God our founding fathers foresaw this and gave us the Bill of Rights and our constitution of which Ms. Clark took an oath to defend.
PS to J,
The US does not lead the world in gun deaths. The US is listed as number 34 and over 50% of all gun deaths are by suicide. Here in Vermont you can get suicide assistance from a doctor. A person who is bound and determined to end their life will find the means to do it. What the USA needs more than more useless gun laws is the return of proper and readily available mental health facilities. Everything else from these anti-American politicians is gaslighting. The USA is awash in illegal drugs and mental health issues. Fix those two things and much of the violence and death will go away.
As Rich stated, firearms are used to stop a violent crime every day, without a shot being fired, and due to the fact that no one was hurt, and criminals will not report that they were detered by the knowledge, or sight of the ability of a mark being able to defend theirselves, we will never know how common this is. One thing is for sure though, thake this option off the table for law abiding citizens, and violent crime will soar !
The reason Vermont is going after the Firearms industry is because in the grand scheme there is very little control by states anywhere. It is largely by the Federal Government. Right off the top of your head what does this remind you of? The answer is contained in Vermont when Shumlin was Governor, and that is VT Yankee. Anything that these morons think they should be controlling is a candidate for disappearance, if they do not succeed. So driving the firearms industry out of Vermont would solve their problem, they think.
The gun grabbers like to think of Vermont as “this brave little state”…
See how brave they are when they hear their door being kicked in at 2am
and they call 911 and are told “sorry, the police are short staffed and response times will be longer than expected”…