| Statement
by the National Shooting Sports Foundation
On Decision Allowing Newark Lawsuit
to Proceed
Reckless Suit Against Gun Makers Can Proceed;
NSSF Calls For Common Sense Legal Reform
The Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate
Division ruled today that a suit against firearm manufacturers
can proceed from its preliminary stages, affecting Newark’s
case and those of two other cities in New Jersey seeking to
hold the firearms industry responsible for crimes committed
with handguns. The decision comes just days after a judge
in California threw out similar suits against gun makers filed
by 12 cities and counties in that state. The California cases,
and one a year ago in which the City of Boston requested its
case be dismissed for lack of wrongdoing on the part of the
industry, were substantially farther along in the process
of evidentiary discovery.
“The same documents and same sworn testimony
from corporate executives, produced in three years of litigation,
which were insufficient to warrant a trial in California and
Boston, would be the ones introduced in New Jersey if this
case proceeds,” said Lawrence G. Keane, vice president
and general counsel for NSSF. “Instead of stopping this
waste of taxpayer money, today’s decision will allow
not only Newark, but Camden and Jersey City to go down the
same costly path until courts there also rule that lawful
and federally licensed manufacturers of non-defective products
cannot be held liable for the things criminals do.
“These same New Jersey cities stand
now where Boston and California
once stood, and they are ultimately doomed to failure because
their allegations have been proven to be without basis in
fact,” added Keane.
The highest courts in New York, Connecticut
and Florida, along with
the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, have already made
rulings favorable to manufacturers in cases similar to the
one in New Jersey.
“Today’s decision demonstrates
the urgent need for Congress to pass common sense legal reform
in order to restore integrity and fairness to our judicial
system,” added Keane. “This abuse of the legal system
could be stopped with the passage of House Bill 1036, written
to protect law-abiding manufacturers from such groundless
suits. More than 30 states have already passed similar legislation.
Those with an interest in manufacturing or selling manufactured
goods of any kind should consider asking their Representatives
and Senators to quickly pass HR
1036 and a similar bill in the Senate.”
The New Jersey Appellate Division today in
a separate ruling reversed a lower court and dismissed the
City of Newark’s complaint against the National Shooting
Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF) and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition
Manufacturers Institute, Inc. (SAAMI). The NSSF, founded in
1961, is the trade association for the makers and sellers
of firearms, ammunition and related products.
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The
full text of the New Jersey Appellate Court's opinion