ON THE LEGAL FRONT
Courts across the country have
been in the gun news headlines, mostly with good news for gun rights advocates.
New York: High
court rules that gun manufacturers are not liable
for death or injuries
in landmark case.
It was a classic instance of
snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Gun manufacturers had gone down in flames after a 1999 federal court
trial in New York ended with the verdict that nine out of fifteen accused gun makers could be held liable for shooting deaths and injuries suffered by seven people because of the supposedly negligent way their firearms
were marketed and distributed.
Gun manufacturers appealed. A federal appeals court hearing the
cases asked the state Court of Appeals to clarify whether New York
law supports a negligent marketing claim in the case of handgun makers. The New York State Court of Appeals (New York’s highest court, what would be called the Supreme Court in other states) decided 7-0 that the chain linking gun makers
with the seven individuals is too tenuous to ascribe liability to the manufacturers.
The federal court is likely to
accept that decision without change and rule the same way on the federal cases. While the plaintiffs expressed
disappointment, they also said the decision shows them how to win such cases in the future. But for now, the liability question in New York is a dead issue.
ALAN GOTTLIEB, founder of the
Second Amendment Foundation, hailed the decision: “Once again, the courts have determined that lawsuits against
the firearms industry for the criminal misdeeds of individuals are without merit.”
GOTTLIEB’s organization is suing the U.S Conference of Mayors and two
dozen individual mayors
over similar legal actions against the gun industry.
“Not only is this a victory for
lawful gun manufacturers,” GOTTLIEB said, “but more importantly, it is a victory for the millions of law-abiding
gun owners whose firearm civil rights have been threatened from the beginning by such legal actions.”
Louisiana: Court throws out suit that
holds gun industry liable. The
Louisiana Supreme Court has thrown out a lawsuit by the city of New Orleans aimed at forcing the gun industry to pay the costs of urban crime.
In a 5-2 decision, the state’s
high court upheld
a state law passed to retroactively block the lawsuit, which was filed by city officials in 1998.
New Orleans was the first of 34 local governments
in the nation to accuse gun makers of selling unsafe products and creating a public nuisance.
The New Orleans suit was closely watched as a proving
ground
for a strategy to thwart the suits by state legislatures passing laws blocking the actions on various grounds.
In the Louisiana decision, the Supreme Court
said the Louisiana and U.S. constitutions protect private citizens — not local governments — from retroactive laws. It also agreed with gun makers than the New Orleans lawsuit interfered with the
state’s authority to regulate firearms.
The New Orleans ruling is “a very disappointing
loss,” said JOSH HORWITZ, executive director of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington-based antigun
group.
HORWITZ said suits remain alive in Boston, Cleveland and several cities in California, among other places, “which
we think have a real strong chance of success.”
They may not be as strong as
HORWITZ thinks. Similar antigun lawsuits have
already been dismissed in Cincinnati; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Miami; Chicago; Camden County, New Jersey; New York;
and Philadelphia, with New Orleans making the score 8-0 for gun rights.
LAWRENCE KEANE, vice president
and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group based in Newtown, CT, said the Louisiana high court ruling is “extremely
important because it affirms that municipalities are creatures of the state and that state legislatures can pass
statutes that prohibit these lawsuits.”
In other court action, U.S. District Judge STEWART DALZELL recently dropped a bombshell on Operation Cease Fire, a
program aimed at getting convicted felons with guns off city streets.
Judge DALZELL questioned the constitutionality
of a
federal anti-gun law, part of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986. Under this law, felons caught with guns
may be prosecuted in U.S. District Court for mere possession of a gun, a crime that traditionally is prosecuted
in state courts.
These cases shouldn’t be clogging
federal courts, DALZELL believes. Such gun cases are now “commonplace in this district as a result of the government’s
highly publicized Operation Cease Fire.”
Prosecutors fear that, even though
it may take years for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve this issue, DALZELL’s ruling with “open the floodgates for innumerable appeals.”
Philadelphia lawyer JULES EPSTEIN,
the attorney who challenged the law, said he expects other attorneys defending Cease Fire clients will now challenge
federal court jurisdiction.
Los Angeles: The
City Council has approved a $2.6 million settlement of a lawsuit for the family of an unarmed man shot to death by a Los Angeles Police Department office in 1999.
TERRY LAMONT TAYLOR, 35, was killed by a member of a special
detail
that had been created to locate people firing guns into the air to celebrate the New Year. The family was having
a small party at their south-central Los Angeles home when TAYLOR’s brother went outside at midnight to shoot his gun. That drew the officers, who shot at Mr. TAYLOR, who was standing by his back
door. The officer thought TAYLOR was armed.
Another political lawsuit:
The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence has announced that it will file suit against Brazilian gunmaker Amadeo Rossi and gun distributors for the death of 7-year-old NAFIS JEFFERSON, who was killed in
1999 by a friend who found a gun under an abandoned car.
The gun had been originally sold to a legal gun owner, who then sold it to a drug dealer who
left it under the car. The Center trots out all the failed arguments about the gun lacking safety devices to prevent
children from firing it. The lawsuit does not include the drug dealer who left the gun under the car. The Center apparently has no interest in prosecuting real criminals.
GREAT
BRITAIN: DESPITE GUN BAN, young criminals ARE armed
One in three United Kingdom criminals under the age of 25
owns or has access to a firearm, the British government’s researchers have discovered. The research shows use of guns is on the rise and
gangster films are blamed for making it seem ‘cool.’ Police are not allowed to carry guns in Great Britain and private ownership of handguns
is banned.
A continuing parliamentary inquiry
into the growing number of black market weapons has concluded that there are more than three million illegally held firearms in circulation in the U.K. - double the number believed to have been held 10 years ago - and that criminals are more willing
than ever to use them.
Controls such as the banning
of handguns after the Dunblane tragedy have had no effect on the number of illegally held guns in circulation.
Recent events have provided sobering
evidence of how deeply ingrained Britain’s new gun culture has become. In one recent week the following happened:
Doormen trying to break up a
fight at the Epping Forest Country Club in Essex watched in horror as several men produced guns and began shooting at them. Two doormen were hit and seriously injured. A few hours later, a man was shot in the head during a “road rage” incident in south London.
Three people were left in critical
condition after a group of young Rolex robbers ambushed them in the driveway of their luxury home in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Millionaire
Joe Martorana had just stepped out of his BMW when two men snatched the Rolex from his wrist. When his wife,
Josephine, tried to raise the alarm, she was shot once in the back by a handgun. As she lay bleeding, the gunmen snatched her Rolex. The couple’s son and his
girlfriend had heard the shot from inside the house. They rushed through the front door to confront the robbers
who gunned
them down.
A few hours later, a 28-year-old man was seriously injured after being shot at a London nightclub. So much for gun bans.
Between 1997 and 1999 there were
429 murders in the capital, the highest two-year figure for more than 10 years. At least 100 of them were drug-related;
nearly two-thirds of those involved firearms.
The picture is the same across
the country. In Birmingham and Manchester, police respond to more than 100 firearms incidents every month. In Wales, armed police have been called into action every day.
Detectives fear many youngsters
are being strongly influenced by the rash of British crime movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - and its sequel, Snatch, which have made gangsters chic.
Lee
Jasper, who
advises the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, on matters of race and policing, believes that, whereas guns were once reserved for the criminal
elite, they are now falling into the hands of younger, less experienced criminals.
“We have a culture developed
where people think it is very cool to carry a gun, and are prepared to use it at the drop of a hat.”
Swiss
seek stricter controls on “light weapons”
Switzerland and France have submitted a joint proposal
to the United Nations which seeks to place strict controls on handguns and other “light arms.” They want a system
whereby all small arms can be traced from the moment they are produced.
The Swiss ambassador to the UN
Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Raimond Kunz,
and his French counterpart, Hubert de La Fortelle, said “light weapons” are “responsible for the death of one person every minute around the
world.’
Describing these firearms as
a “factor in the destabilization of the rule of law” and a “threat to democracy,” they said Paris and Berne wanted to see the creation of
an international mechanism whereby states would commit themselves to cooperating in tracking them.
Among the methods being proposed by the Swiss and French to trace weapons will be an indelible
mark. The Franco-Swiss joint initiative comes four months before a UN conference in New York faces the illicit trade in light
weapons. The aim of the gathering is to draw up a plan of action to deal with the problem.
florida
legislature votes to protect gunmakers from lawsuits
Florida lawmakers have voted to help
insulate gun makers from lawsuits under a measure that prohibits cities and counties from suing manufacturers and dealers for gun-related injuries and deaths.
By a 78-35 vote largely along
party lines, the Republican-led House of Representatives sent the bill to Gov. JEB BUSH, brother of President Bush,
who signed it.
Florida joined 26 states that have enacted
laws to protect gun makers, dealers and distributors from an increasing wave of lawsuits filed by local governments.
Backers of the bill said gun
makers produce a legal product that if used properly causes no unintended harm. Taxpayers, therefore, should not
be asked to pay for lawsuits filed on their behalf. The measure does not prohibit individuals from filing civil
suits against the gun industry.
The lawmakers got a commendation
from ALAN GOTTLIEB, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. GOTTLIEB also criticized opponents of the measure
for arguing that the bill is not needed because courts have been rejecting municipal lawsuits against the gun industry.
He pointed to the decisions by the New York Court of Appeals and the Louisiana Supreme Court rejecting such lawsuits.
The Louisiana decision relied upon the existence
of just such a law, making it possible to turn away the New Orleans suit against gunmakers.
GOTTLIEB said, “The fact that
Miami-Dade is appealing two consecutive losses to the State Supreme Court is a clear demonstration of why this
law is necessary.”
INDIANA
LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL TO BAN ANTIGUN LAWSUITS
Gov. FRANK O’BANNON has signed
a bill banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers in Indiana, like the one brought by Gary.
Sponsored by Rep. JERRY DENBO (D-French Lick), the bill passed
the House and the Senate and was signed recently by the Governor.
ROBERT MEEKS (R-LaGrange), the
Senate sponsor, said, “The Indiana Constitution is stronger than the U.S. Constitution when it comes to the right
bear arms. And these suits infringe upon a person’s right to bear arms.”
Gary Mayor SCOTT KING sued 28
defendants in August 1999, claiming the collection of gun dealers, manufacturers and trade associations contributed
directly to handgun crime in the city.
Fetla’s Bargain Center in Valparaiso voluntarily stopped selling
handguns as part of a settlement with Gary, but the suit was eventually dismissed by Lake County Superior Court Judge JAMES RICHARDS.
The suit was similar to ones
filed by Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and others.
CONCEALED CARRY DEBATE HEATS UP IN OREGON
Anti-gun activists are applying
pressure to Oregon Senate Judiciary Chairman JOHN MINNIS (R-Wood Village) to hold a hearing on a plan to prohibit holders of concealed handgun licenses from carrying
their weapons into schools.
Activists from Cease Fire Oregon and the Million Mom March recently
gathered at the Capitol to hold a news conference asking for the hearing.
About a dozen pro-gun activists
picketed outside and came to the news conference to argue that law-abiding carriers of concealed handguns make schools safer and can potentially help protect students and staffers from violence.
MINNIS had earlier expresses interest
in holding hearings on gun issues, but changed his mind after receiving a flood of critical mail from gun rights
supporters.
Sen. GINNY BURDICK (D-Portland),
who sponsored last year’s successful initiative requiring criminal background checks on sales at gun shows, has
made a ban on carrying guns into schools her top firearms issue this session.
Oregon law currently allows concealed carry permit holders to bring guns into schools, but some school
districts have banned guns on school grounds
MISSOURI BILL TO ALLOW CONCEALED GUNS
IN CARS
Drivers could legally conceal a loaded gun
under a car seat
or in a glove compartment under a bill recently passed by the Missouri House of Representatives.
Under current state law, a person
may have a gun in the car if it is visible and reachable.
House Majority Floor Leader WAYNE
CRUMP (D-Potosi) offered the amendment, which would apply to those 21 and over. He said people in rural areas carry
guns in the open in their cars, but when they park at a Wal-Mart, it is illegal for them to hide the gun under the seat to keep it from being stolen.
Critics of the bill point out
that
Missouri voters in 1999 rejected Proposition
B, a referendum to allow the carrying of concealed weapons.
CRUMP, a former deputy sheriff,
said that his bill is not like Proposition B, and that it prohibits concealed weapons in hospitals, schools, sports
facilities seating more than 10,000 people and licensed liquor establishments unless half the sales are generated
by food.
The bill now goes to the Senate,
where it faces stiff opposition. If it passes both chambers, it is expected that Gov. BOB HOLDEN, a Democrat, would
veto the measure.
ILLINOIS
HOUSE OKS RESTRICTIONS ON GUN SHOWS
On the same day that the Illinois House killed Mayor RICHARD
DALEY’s effort to create a statewide licensing program for firearms
dealers, it passed new restrictions on gun shows.
The gun show legislation, which
passed House 69-44 and now goes to the Senate, would bar gun dealers not licensed by the federal government from selling firearms at shows or on grounds where the shows
are held.
Now, unlicensed dealers can sell
guns at the shows without having to perform criminal or mental health background checks on buyers.
Gun rights supporters hope to
kill the measure in the Senate, said anti-gun Rep. JEFFREY SCHOENBERG (D-Evanston), lead sponsor of the bill.
Senate President JAMES “PETE”
PHILIP (R-Wood Dale) left open the possibility that he might be willing to allow new restrictions on gun shows
after the House vote. “I’d like to look at it a little closer before I jump to any conclusions,” said Sen. PHILIP,
“but they [gun shows] probably need a little more regulation.”
The DALEY measure would have
required all gun dealers to be licensed by the State Police and keep the agency apprised of all gun sales. Now,
gun dealers have to register only with the federal government.
Sponsored by Rep. TOM DART (D-Chicago),
the plan stalled 57-57, three votes short of the sixty required for passage.
MARYLAND
HOUSE PASSES GUN EDUCATION BILL
Maryland may become the first in the nation to require firearms instruction in public schools because of a bill passed by the House of Delegates.
In a 98 to 32 vote, lawmakers required students in kindergarten
though grade 6 to learn about firearms safety. Students in grades 7 through 12 would be offered either a firearms safety lesson, hunting lesson, or both.
The Senate has passed similar legislation, but a House-Senate
conference committee will have to meet to mold the two measures into one.
Gov. PARRIS N. GLENDENNING (D)
has said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
LOCAL
GUN BANS MAY RUN AFOUL OF NEW MEXICO STATE CONSTITUTION
The Concealed Handgun Carry Act recently signed into law by New
Mexico Gov. GARY JOHNSON may be unconstitutional because it allows city and county governments to pass laws banning
concealed handguns in their jurisdictions.
The State
Constitution says, “No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and
bear arms.”
SMITH
& WESSON PROGRAM UNDER FIRE IN CONGRESS
A bipartisan group of Members
of Congress has asked the administration to end a controversial Clinton-era program giving preferential treatment to gun manufacturer Smith
& Wesson,
which caved in to gun control pressures.
Led by Reps. JOHN HOSTETTLER
(R-IN) and ROSCOE BARTLETT (R-MD), 100 Members sent a letter — signed by 10 Democrats — to Housing and Urban Development
Secretary MEL MARTINEZ asking that he halt a program in which the department encourages state and local agencies to purchase Smith & Wesson handguns.
The program, the Communities
for Safer Guns Coalition, was started after Smith & Wesson agreed in March 2000 to meet restrictive safety standards for handgun sales, including mandatory
gun locks. The standards were opposed by all other major gun makers.
The Clinton administration also successfully
pressured municipal authorities in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston and other cities to drop Smith & Wesson from lawsuits against the gun industry.
HOSTETTLER said, “There is strong
bipartisan agreement that firearm purchases for the men and women protecting our communities should be based on
merit, not politics.”
THEY’RE
BAA-AACK! GUN SHOW BILL REVIVED AFTER BEING KILLED YEARS AGO
Like a ghost in a horror movie, a dead bill has come back to life as Senate Democrats reintroduce legislation to require background
checks of prospective firearms purchasers at gun shows. And to make things more ghoulish, the bill reintroduction,
a new anti-gun report, and a news conference by Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI) all showed up around the second
anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Boulder, Colorado.
The bill: Identical legislation was killed
by Congress in 1999. Predictably, gun control advocates praised the resurrected bill, introduced by Rhode Island
Democrat Sen. JACK REED and a long list of Democrats. One lone Republican, Rhode Island Sen. LINCOLN CHAFEE, co-sponsored
REED’s bill.
The justification for the reintroduction
appears to be the spate of school shootings such as the Columbine High tragedy. Some of the guns used by the killers
at Columbine were obtained at a gun show.
Critics of the new/old bill called
it poorly constructed and overreaching legislation that could lead to wide-scale registration requirements, even
for current gun owners.
JOE WALDRON, executive director
of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said, “This is nothing but a big regulatory registration scheme.”