Rogue gun manufacturers and dealers who negligently or recklessly sell firearms in Illinois must be held accountable to more effectively reduce gun violence in our communities. To do so, policymakers need to clarify the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, or Consumer Fraud Act, to ensure that the gun industry is held to the same basic principles of civil justice as everyone else.
Firearms are now the leading cause of death for American children and teens, surpassing automobile accidents and cancer. And while gun violence is a public health crisis all across the United States, Black and Latino communities are disproportionately affected. By way of illustration, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Illinois in 2021, African Americans were almost 40 times more likely than white Americans to die by gun homicide. Although gun violence overwhelmingly afflicts the Black community, it is important to note that these communities are seldom where firearms are being manufactured or legally sold.
Last year, as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Illinois attorney general, Kansas City and the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revoked the federal firearms license of JA Industries, a firearms dealer whose operators allegedly supplied illegal gun traffickers with cheaply made guns often used in robberies, carjackings and other criminal activity.
