Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York Attorney General Lettia James says she hopes there is a message connected with a just-negotiated settlement between a gun accessory manufacturer and the victims and families from the 5/14 Tops Market shootings.
James' hopes to settlement resonates with gun manufacturers, and, equally important federal lawmakers.
"There are too many guns flowing from states that end up in the hands of the wrong individual," James said.
Flanked by members of the 5/14 families and local political leaders, James on Wednesday afternoon announced that Mean Arms will pay $1.75 million to the victims and families and also stop selling, in New York state, the MA Lock - a device that allows shooters to quickly reload a magazine.
James alleges Mean Arms included videos and instructions on how to remove the MA Lock, something that the 5/14 shooter Payton Gendron was charged with doing.
"By doing that, he was able to get off 60 rounds in less than two minutes," said Buffalo Councilwoman Leah Halton-Pope.
The settlement is just one of several civil and criminal lawsuits filed against Gendron, who was 18 at the time of the 2022 shootings. Other suits are filed against gun manufacturers, retailers and Gendron's parents.
"No one wants to become an expert in handling cases for victims of mass shootings," said Kristen Elmore Garcia, one of several attorneys involved in a number of the lawsuits.
The settlement doesn't take away from the pain of the shootings - especially for the victims - but also because it continues to haunt Buffalo and the region, said Rev. Mark Blue, 5/14 Commission chairman.
"Every morning, these people wake and something triggers a memory," Rev. Blue said. "Bereavement has no time limit."
Still, the settlement does matter - and well beyond its financial implications.
"It offers some level of resolve to these families," Rev. Blue said.