U.S. Supreme Court Declines
to Revive Firearms Suit
Brady Center Misleads Media on Status of
Lawsuits Against Firearms Manufacturers
17 of 18 suits are fully or partially
dismissed
All appellate decisions favor manufacturers
NEWTOWN, Conn., Oct. 9-Commenting on today’s U.S. Supreme
Court decision declining to revive a lawsuit by the City of
New Orleans against firearms manufacturers, Dennis Henigan,
director of the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence’s
Legal Action Project seriously misled the American media and
public with his overview of municipal lawsuits against the
firearms industry.
According to press accounts, Mr. Henigan stated, “You have
cases going both ways. It’s pretty much split down the middle.”
But, Robert T. Delfay, president and chief executive officer
of the National Shooting Sports Foundation took sharp exception
to Mr. Henigan’s assessment. “These comments by Mr. Henigan
totally misrepresent the true status of the municipal litigation
against the firearms industry. There have been 18 suits decided
so far and 17 have been fully or partially dismissed in favor
of firearms manufacturers. That’s not pretty much split down
the middle.
“Further, what Mr. Henigan failed to tell reporters was that
every appellate decision so far rendered in these cases, including
decisions by the supreme courts of Louisiana and Connecticut
and now the United States Supreme Court, has ruled in favor
of the firearms industry. In addition, the highest courts
in New York and California both recently ruled in favor of
firearms manufacturers in private lawsuits that sought to
hold firearms manufacturers responsible for criminal violence
committed with firearms.
“By far, the consensus by judges reviewing these cases is
that there is no basis in law to hold the manufacturer of
a legally sold, non-defective product responsible for the
criminal misuse of that product. The attempt by nearly 30
municipalities to do so is totally political and distasteful,
as is Mr. Henigan’s misrepresentation of the status of these
lawsuits,” Delfay said.
“We can understand Mr. Henigan’s extreme disappointment at
the resounding rejection of his politically motivated and
harassing lawsuits against the firearms industry but that
disappointment is no excuse for his misleading statements
regarding the status of these lawsuits. Mr. Henigan owes an
apology to the nation’s news media as well as to those citizens
whose tax dollars have been wasted in the pursuit of this
frivolous and ill-conceived litigation,” Delfay concluded.
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Note to Editors: Below is a factual summary of the
municipal firearms litigation against firearms manufacturers
prepared by the National Shooting Sports Foundation on October
9, 2001.
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