A Mount Holly man is threatening to sue Everytown for Gun Safety.
Bobby Richards, owner of Crossfire Arms, LLC, alleges in a press release that Everytown “misappropriated” his company logo and “defamed” him by “characterizing both as vehicles for the unlicensed sale of firearms to felons, fugitives from justice, domestic violence abusers, and other unspecified criminals.”
Richards has retained an attorney to pursue defamation claims against Everytown, which is backed by billionaire gun control advocate Michael Bloomberg.
The report, “Where Vermont Criminals Shop for Guns,” now includes a retraction. The report, which originally listed 1,106 ads for guns, “inadvertently” included 48 guns posted by licensed dealers in Vermont, according to a correction on the website.
Everytown purchased ads on VTDigger last month that were linked to the report website.
Richards says he is a licensed dealer, and Crossfire Arms “completes all transactions in person and performs a background check for every transaction involving a firearm.”
He told The Blaze that he advertises firearms on Armslist and includes the Crossfire Arms company logo with the ads. Richards said he “requires every purchaser of a gun he sells to on Armslist to complete a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Form 4473 and be screened by the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.”
Richards has retained Rachel M. Baird of Torrington, Connecticut.
“In a time when the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding firearm owners are under relentless attack by agenda-driven Bloomberg-backed organizational fronts and government authorities, Richards and Crossfire Arms rightfully fear and anticipate that Everytown’s actions will deter vendors and customers from association with Crossfire Arms,” Richards alleged in a statement.
Neither Richards nor Baird returned calls for comment.
Everytown was also called out by Politifact and Factcheck.org for inflating the number of school shootings that have occurred since the Sandyhook, Connecticut, killings at an elementary school in December 2013. The group cited every incident in which a gun was fired in a school building, including suicides and accidental shootings.
