AGs in New Jersey and Delaware take on fight to stop gun violence

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Attorneys General from 16 states, including Delaware and New Jersey, have established a coalition aimed at promoting accountability within the firearms industry regarding its significant contribution to gun violence.

The alliance, the first of its kind, aims to end the problem by coordinating enforcement of the states’ civil liability and consumer protection laws to promote public safety and save lives.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is leading the charge on this initiative. He said the goal is not to curtail lawful gun ownership but to protect communities from misguided business practices that contribute to “unsafe gun proliferation,” which he said leads to mass shootings in churches, synagogues, schools, shopping malls, concerts, and supermarkets.

“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,” Platkin said.

All 16 states that joined the coalition share the same goal.

Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings said gun trafficking is one of the root causes of gun violence in the First State.

“If we can lower gun trafficking in our state, and if we can ensure that gun dealers, federally licensed firearm dealers, act responsibly,” Jennings said in an interview with WHYY News. “We have to use every tool available to us.”

Jennings said 60% of crime guns recovered in Delaware originate from straw purchases — when someone buys firearms from someone who is prohibited from buying them on their own. It’s something her office has been working to crack down on.

Last year, a federal judge upheld a state law allowing Delaware to enforce the KeKe Anderson Safe Firearm Sales Act.

It establishes a legal framework that holds firearm manufacturers and retail dealers accountable when they knowingly or recklessly engage in actions that pose a risk to the health and safety of residents in this State through the sale, manufacture, distribution, and marketing of firearm-related products.

“We have to make sure that dealers and other retail establishments are behaving, that they are holding themselves to a standard that we can trust,” Jennings said.