Everytown Law represents Kansas City in a lawsuit against a Nevada gun manufacturer, multiple current or former Kansas City-area licensed firearms dealers, an alleged gun trafficker, and an alleged straw purchaser over the trafficking of handguns into the Kansas City area.
The lawsuit alleges that the gun trafficking ring has created a public nuisance by contributing to Kansas City’s violent crime problem. Over the past several years, Kansas City has experienced one of the highest homicide-per-capita rates in the United States. In Kansas City, a firearm was involved in 95 percent of homicides in 2019, and handguns were the firearm most frequently used.
The lawsuit names a gun manufacturer, Jimenez Arms, as one of the defendants. All the named defendants in this case are alleged to have illegally distributed Jimenez Arms guns and this manufacturer’s guns have been frequently and disproportionately recovered at crime scenes in the Kansas City area during this time. From 2014 to 2018, the Kansas City Police Department recovered, seized, or held as evidence at least 166 Jimenez Arms guns.
Kansas City is the first U.S. city to file a lawsuit against the gun industry in more than 10 years. The city seeks reimbursement for its costs of addressing the consequences of the trafficking ring and seeks an order from the court requiring the defendants to abate the nuisance that they created, including by helping to recover firearms that are still in circulation. The city is also represented by Williams Dirks Dameron LLC and the Kansas City Attorney’s office.
Everytown Law also represents the parents of Alvino Dwight Crawford, who was killed in 2016 with one of the firearms trafficked by this ring. For more information see Crawford v. Jimenez Arms, et al.
On February 10, 2010, Jimenez Arms, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in Nevada. The city of Kansas City has filed a proof of claim and are seeking discovery.
