Cincinnati To Drop Suit Against
Gun Makers,
To Use Money For Police Overtime
Joins Growing List of Cities Suing Gun
Makers
That Have Dropped Suits Or Had Them Dismissed By Courts.
NEWTOWN, Conn. - The Cincinnati City Council
voted unanimously this week (8-0) to voluntarily dismiss its
lawsuit against gun makers citing an inability to win the
case, mounting legal costs, and impending federal legislation
that would have dismissed the city's case. The Council voted
instead to spend $100,000 on police overtime during the coming
summer months. Cincinnati's lawsuit sought to hold gun makers
responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms. The city's
decision, coming on the heels of the March 7, 2003 dismissal
by a trial court of a similar suit filed by 12 California
cities against the gun makers, is the latest in a series of
major blows to gun control advocates who had hoped to impose
their gun control agenda through the courts.
Last year the City of Boston became the first
city to voluntarily dismiss its case after reviewing hundreds
of thousands of industry documents and taking dozen of sworn
statements for corporate executives. In dropping its case
Boston acknowledged to the court that firearm industry members
"are genuinely concerned with and are committed to, the safe,
legal and responsible sale and use of their products."
"Cincinnati has learned, as Boston, California
and the other cities that have sued our industry, that blaming
law-abiding manufacturers for the actions of criminals is
a no-win strategy that unfairly and unnecessarily burdens
taxpayers," observed Lawrence G. Keane, vice president and
general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation,
the trade association for the firearms industry. "Last
June I appeared before City Council to urged Cincinnati to
follow Boston's example and work with industry to find ways
to address our shared goals of further reducing firearms accidents
and reducing the criminal misuse of firearms. The alternative
was costly litigation that would not save a single life or
prevent a single crime," said Keane. "We hope the
remaining cities, like Cleveland and Newark, New Jersey, will
now recognize that the path forward is through cooperation,
not costly and time consuming confrontation." Keane added.
The strategy of suing manufacturers of non-defective
products for the criminal misuse of their products attracted
the attention of the National Association of Manufacturers,
which represents some 14,000 members employing 18 million
people who make things in America. NAM Vice President for
Litigation Quentin Riegel said, "Today it's handguns, but
tomorrow it could be power tools, golf clubs or automobiles.
Manufacturers of perfectly lawful, properly designed and well-functioning
products can't rationally be held liable for third-party actions
that may result in harm to another."
Legislation now before the United States
Senate, which recently passed overwhelmingly with bi-partisan
support in the House, would dismiss lawsuits, like Cincinnati's,
that seek to hold gun makers legally responsible for the criminal
misuse of their products, but would not prevent suits by those
with a legitimate claims from having their day in court. The
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (S. 659) does not
bar lawsuits for example where the product was defective or
the gun was sold in violation of the law or negligently entrusted
to an irresponsible person. The bill is supported by at least
52 Senators from both sides of the aisle.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation since
1961 has been the trade association for the makers and sellers
of firearms, ammunition and related hunting and recreational
shooting products. You can learn more about NSSF's safety
programs and the promotion of the safe and responsible use
of its members' products by visiting the Foundation's web
site at www.nssf.org.
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