STATEMENT BY HUD SECRETARY ANDREW CUOMO

WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today issued the following statement in response to a lawsuit filed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and seven gun manufacturers:

"The NSSF and several manufacturers have filed a frivolous lawsuit in a vain attempt to distract from their failure to take responsibility for their share of the tragic problem of gun violence. After the Smith & Wesson agreement there are two types of gun manufacturers: safe and unsafe. Working with law enforcement, we prefer to do business with the safe manufacturers. Ultimately, we hope that the NSSF, and those gun manufacturers which have sued with it, will decide to be part of the solution rather than the problem and join the largest maker of handguns, Smith & Wesson, in making a safer product that is kept out of the hands of children and criminals."