Top Justice Department officials helped scuttle the federal government’s original plan to sue gun manufacturers, forcing the Clinton administration to scale back its prospective legal attack.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo announced Dec. 7 that his agency is preparing to assist with a class action that may be filed by the country’s public housing authorities (PHAs) on behalf of more than three million residents of housing projects, who apparently have been disproportionate victims of gun violence.