New York City settles with another five gun dealers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City has struck a deal with a further five gun dealers among 27 targeted in its bid to thwart the flow of illegal weapons into the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Friday.

Bloomberg said that 20 gun dealers named in lawsuits by the city had now reached out-of-court agreements that will allow outside monitoring of sales.

In two separate lawsuits, New York sued 27 gun dealers in five states -- Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia -- on the grounds their sales practices allowed criminals to buy guns and then bring them into the city.

One dealer from Pennsylvania, one from South Carolina, one from Ohio and two from Georgia are the latest to reach settlements.

Bloomberg's fight against illegal guns has made him into something of a pariah among influential gun-rights groups in the United States. In April, he was portrayed as an octopus on the cover of the National Rifle Association's newsletter.

In August, a federal court judge in Brooklyn ruled New York's courts had jurisdiction to hear the city's lawsuits, because the city had shown the gun dealers were responsible for funneling "large quantities of handguns used by local criminals to terrorize significant portions of the city's population."

Trials are due to begin on May 27 and September 2.

The city has accused dealers of allowing "straw purchases" in which one person shops for a gun and then has someone else fill out the required forms to pass a background check.

New York caught some dealers by hiring undercover private detectives with hidden cameras to carry out straw purchases.

As part of the settlement, the dealers agree to submit to a court-appointed monitor of their sales activities known as a special master.

The special master has broad discretion to review firearms-related records and conduct unrestricted inspections of all inventories. Employees also will receive enhanced training, according to the terms of the settlement.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Editing by Sandra Maler)