Letitia James. | AP Photo/Frank Franklin II James and families of mass-shooting victims chastise Sanders on guns

Public Advocate Letitia James and the family members of victims of some of the highest-profile mass shootings in recent years stood in front of City Hall Friday to criticize Bernie Sanders for his votes on gun-related issues in Congress.

The event, organized by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, comes in advance of the April 19 New York state primary, which is expected to be one of the most competitive Democratic primaries the state has seen in decades.

Story Continued Below

James, who as public advocate has called for city divestment of public pension funds from gun manufacturers, disparaged Sanders for his 2005 vote in Congress in support of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which granted gun manufacturers immunity from many lawsuits.

“Is Bernie right for protecting gun dealers and sellers lawsuits? I say hell no,” James said at the press conference, as she stood with two women whose family members had been murdered in the December, 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school and a woman whose daughter had been killed in the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado in July, 2012.

“New Yorkers will hold you accountable for your negligence on April 19,” James said of Sanders.

Sanders defended recently his vote for PLCAA in an interview with the Daily News editorial board.

“Do I think the victims of a crime with a gun should be able to sue the manufacturer? Is that your question?” Sanders said to the editorial board. “No I don't.” He did suggest that he would consider some changes to the law. “I do believe that gun manufacturers and gun dealers should be able to be sued when they should know that guns are going into the hands of wrong people,” Sanders told the paper.

On Friday, Erica Smegielski, whose mother Dawn Hochsprung was the principal at Sandy Hook elementary, said Sanders should apologize to her and other families affected by gun violence for his comments saying gun manufacturers should not be sued for selling a legal product.

“Well, Senator Sanders, Adam Lanza’s AR-15 worked exactly the way it was designed when it murdered my mother,” Smegielski said Friday, referencing the shooter at the school.

Jillian Soto, whose older sister Vicki Soto was one of the schoolteachers killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, agreed, saying that she and other family members of the victims of mass murders want gun makers who manufacture assault weapons like the one used by Lanza to be “held accountable.”

Sandy Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessi Chawi was one of the 12 people killed by the Aurora shooting, described her daughter’s fatal injuries.

She was “shot six times,” including once in the head, Phillips said. “That wound caused a 5-inch hole in my daughter’s face.”

Phillips had filed a lawsuit in Colorado state court against Lucky Gunner, the ammunition company that sold bullets to the shooter without requiring a background check or identification. But the case was thrown out of court because of the PLCAA. A judge ordered Phillips to pay $203,000 in legal fees to Lucky Gunner.

Phillips said she intends to declare bankruptcy, because she can’t afford to pay the fees. She said she found Sanders’ attitude toward gun manufacturers’ liability “arrogant” and “insensitive.”

Natasha Christopher, a Brooklyn woman whose 14-year-old son Akeal was murdered four years ago on his way home from a party, broke down in front of the podium as she clutched a framed photograph of her son.

“Mr. Bernie, I will not vote for you,” she said, with tears running down her cheeks. “My son didn’t even get a chance to grow up.”

It is unclear what actions Clinton could take, if elected, to make changes to current gun-control regulations, given Republicans’ current control of Congress and the party’s reluctance to approve new restrictions on weapons.

James appeared to concede the point, telling reporters when asked what Clinton could do about gun control if she’s elected president that the best hope is for more Democrats to win office.

“We are hoping that Hillary Clinton has coattails, and will change the Senate as well as the United States House of Representatives, and will turn it from a sea of red into a sea of blue,” James said.

The Sanders campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.