Gunmakers Take Aim at AG Maura Healey in Dual Suits

BOSTON, MA — Attorney General Maura Healey is again taking heat from gun-makers, but not for her controversial new assault weapons enforcement action. Instead, the dual suits from Remington and Glock come in response to Healey's investigation into their practices, an echo of a suit brought earlier this year by Exxon Mobil.

In partnership with the New York attorney general's office, Healey opened up a probe into the oil giant's knowledge of climate change, investigating whether the company knowingly misled the public. Exxon, in turn, sued Healey over what it has called a "fishing expedition."

Now, as The Boston Globe reports, the lawsuits uncover the fact that Healey's office has commenced a similar investigation into Remington and Glock. Under the state's consumer protection law, she has summoned documents from both companies, "including safety-related complaints from customers and the companies’ responses," the paper reports.

Newly disclosed details show Healey is arguing Glock firearms are "prone to accidental discharge,” while both Glock and Remington have returned fire in a suit claiming the attorney general is abusing her power.

While critics will no doubt see this latest action as confirmation that Healey is targeting gun manufacturers, it is far from the only industry her office has gone after.

Healey on Thursday announced a more than $795,000 payment to the state, as well as policy changes from CVS, putting to rest a state suit that accused it of insufficient measures to prevent abuse of prescription pain pills. Along with numerous other states, her office secured Massachusetts' piece of automaker Volkswagen's billion-dollar settlement. Again with the New York AG's office, Healey is now pursuing additional recompense from the German car company, also under consumer protection laws.

But like Exxon, Glock and Remington are going on the offensive. And although Healey's office has numerous targets in its sites, the Globe reports that one of the two suits argues she takes special issue with weapons manufacturers, having previously referred to gun violence as an "epidemic," among other descriptions.

>>> Read the full story from The Boston Globe here. <<<

Archive photo of Maura Healey courtesy mass.gov