Crossfire Arms, LLC, of Mount Holly, Vermont, says through counsel that it intends to sue Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety for defamation after Everytown suggested that Crossfire Arms was an unlicensed dealer selling firearms to criminals.

Everytown had been pushing a fake “study” that asserted criminals were using online firearms sites to illegally acquire firearms as part of the group’s efforts to impose “universal background checks” on residents of the state that sees less violent crime in a year than many large cities mismanaged by anti-gun Democrats see in a summer weekend. The very speculative Everytown report failed to come up with solid evidence that so much as a single firearm was sold to a criminal via person-to-person sales facilitated by online communications.

Their report also asserted that Crossfire Arms was involved in providing firearms via unlicensed sales, a patently false claim, by including images of their listings in Armlist, including watermarked images.

The statement released by Crossfire Arms,LLC regarding their pending suit pulls no punches (PDF).

Crossfire Arms, LLC, of Mt. Holly, Vermont, has retained Attorney Rachel M. Baird as legal counsel to pursue claims against Bloomberg­backed Everytown for Gun Safety and all parties involved in the fraudulent investigation leading to the publication of an Everytown report titled, Where Vermont Criminals Shop for Guns, together with media outlets responsible for continued distribution of the fraudulent report. In the blatantly false and malicious report distributed to a worldwide audience, Everytown misappropriated Crossfire Arms’ logo and defamed its owner Bobby Richards and Crossfire Arms by characterizing both as vehicles for the unlicensed sale of firearms to felons, fugitives from justice, domestic violence abusers, and other unspecified criminals. For the record, Richards and Crossfire Arms observe and comply with all federal and state laws pertaining to firearms. As a licensed dealer Crossfire Arms completes all transactions in person and performs a background check for every transaction involving a firearm. 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. In conclusion, Richards and Crossfire Arms intend to take swift and immediate legal action aimed at holding Everytown and all those associated with the defamatory report accountable for this latest irresponsible attempt by a Bloomberg­-backed organization to distribute factually incorrect reports to susceptible media outlets and elected­ state officials.

The Washington Times notes that Everytown is now in damage control mode.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group financed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has gone into mea culpa mode for claims it made about firearms dealers that turned out to be wrong — and that may lead at least one to file a lawsuit. The group issued a report a few days ago that said more than 1,000 online gun ads in Vermont were posted by unlicensed dealers and therefore, leading potential buyers to bypass background checks. But Everytown for Gun Safety wrongly identified 49 dealers.

Though perhaps the newest gun control group on the national scene along with fellow Bloomberg creation Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety has been repeatedly savaged by fact-checkers in the media for making misleading statements. Politifact, FactCheck.org, and CNN were among those that pointed out that the group lied about the number of school shootings that have taken place in the United States since Sandy Hook, and still continues to push that fabrication via both Moms Demand and Everytown.

It’s a sad state of affairs when gun control groups are forced to falsify information and allegedly defame lawful business owners in order to push their anti-constitutional agenda.

It is not known at this time if any other dealers cited in the Bloombergian propaganda piece is also considering legal action.

Update: Crossfire Arms, LLC has announced that it will file suite against Everytown.