A gun accessory company has agreed to pay $1.75 million (£1.4 million) to survivors and families of victims of a racist shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlement with Mean Arms, a Georgia-based firm, which will also stop selling the device in New York state.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by James, covering claims from victims' families and survivors of the attack at Tops Friendly Market, which killed 10 Black people. The device in question is a magazine lock for rifles, designed to prevent the use of high-capacity magazines, which are illegal in New York. However, James said the gunman, Payton Gendron, easily removed the lock and used high-capacity magazines, aided by instructions on the product's packaging.
James stated: '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.' Pamela Pritchett, whose mother Pearl Young was killed, said: 'No one should be able to come into a store and, in two minutes, inflict so much damage to a community.'
Separate settlements were also reached with the gunman's family and gun seller Vintage Firearms LLC, which has permanently closed. The gunman, Payton Gendron, is serving life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to state murder charges. He still faces federal hate crime charges, with the Justice Department seeking the death penalty.
