A Brooklyn woman injured during the mass shooting aboard a subway car in April is suing gun manufacturer Glock, alleging it bears civil liability for the crime.
Ilene Steur, 49, who was among 10 victims shot during the attack on an N train in Sunset Park, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. It alleges Glock was negligent for marketing and distributing its guns with “reckless disregard for human life.”
Accused gunman Frank James allegedly used a Glock 9-millimeter firearm during the April 12 rampage. He pleaded not guilty to federal charges of committing a terrorist attack on mass transit and firing a weapon during a violent attack.
Last week a federal judge in Albany threw out a lawsuit brought by gun manufacturers and sellers challenging the constitutionality of a New York law that allows nuisance claims to be brought against the gun industry by individuals and others affected by gun violence. U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino ruled that the state law, signed in July by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fit within an exception to a U.S. law shielding gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits.
“This statute that exists in New York, I believe, gives victims the opportunity not to be blocked by federal preemptive statutes (protecting the gun industry from suit) and be able to collect damages from gun manufacturers for injuries when the marketing of the guns is clearly unreasonable,” Steur’s attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, told Gothamist.
According to Steur's claim, Glock’s negligence created a public nuisance that endangered public health and safety. It claims Glock's marketing "emphasizes firearm characteristics such as their high capacity and ease of concealment, that appeal to prospective purchasers with criminal intent.”
Steur alleges she sustained serious injuries that left her unable to perform normal activities. The claim seeks damages in excess of $75,000.
"Gun manufacturers do not live in a bubble,” Mark Shirian, another attorney for Steur, said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to hold the gun industry accountable for recklessly marketing their guns in a fashion that unreasonably creates a public nuisance.”
The lawsuit comes as the nation is reeling from a series of mass shootings. In May, an avowed white supremacist is accused of killing 10 people at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo. Ten days later, a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The shooter was killed in the siege.
There was no immediate comment from Glock.
