Bloomberg's gun control group helps city sue firearms-maker

A gun-control advocacy group founded by Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg is helping Kansas City, Mo., with lawsuits accusing a gun manufacturer and local dealers of failing to live up to their legal responsibilities to curb weapons-trafficking.

"We will be the first city to file a lawsuit against the gun industry in more than 10 years," Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said at a press conference on Tuesday. "Gun trafficking, illegal gun trafficking, has created a public nuisance ... that has led to deaths in our community."

Everytown Law, a division of Everytown for Gun Safety, is assisting the city with its suit against Nevada-based Jimenez Arms. The group also represents the parents of Alvino Dwight Crawford, who are suing Jimenez Arms over allegations that their son was shot to death in 2016 with an illegally-trafficked Jimenez gun.

The city's suit claims Jiminez, a Nevada-based maker of affordable guns, sent dozens of wholesale-priced weapons to James Samuels, a Kansas City firefighter who is facing charges for violating federal gun laws, according to The Wall Street Journal. Samuels is being held at the Leavenworth Detention Center pending trial on federal firearms charges including dealing without a license, according to the Journal.