Firearms
Industry Wins Another Court Victory
Dismissal of Spitzer's lawsuit against industry
upheld by New York Appellate Court
NEWTOWN, Conn. - In
another significant legal victory for the firearms industry,
a New York appellate court today upheld a trial court's
August, 2001 order dismissing a lawsuit brought by New
York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against gun
makers. The appellate court said manufacturers of lawful
and non-defective products cannot be sued for allegedly
creating a "public nuisance" when criminals
misuse firearms. The appellate court acknowledged what
the firearms industry has maintained all along - "that
courts are the least suited, least equipped, and thus
the least appropriate branch of government to regulate
and micro-manage the manufacturing, marketing, distribution
and sale of handguns."
"We are extremely
pleased and gratified that the appeals court has found
that Attorney General Spitzer's politically motivated
lawsuit lacks any legal merit, precisely what other
courts around the county have concluded in dismissing
similar 'junk' lawsuits filed against our industry,"
said Lawrence G. Keane, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation's vice president and general counsel. "These
lawsuits are nothing more than an attempt to circumvent
Congress and state legislatures to impose through litigation
an extreme anti-gun agenda repeatedly rejected by Congress
and the American people."
The Appellate Court
expressed well-founded fear that giving the green light
to a common-law public nuisance cause of action will
"likely open the courthouse doors to a flood of
limitless, similar theories of public nuisance, not
only against [gun makers], but also against a wide and
varied array of other commercial and manufacturing enterprises
and activities." The court also stated, "Such
an explosion of litigation would inappropriately engulf
the courts beyond their means in issues which the legislative
and executive branches are vastly better designed, equipped
and funded to address."
Despite a string of
recent courtroom victories for the firearms industry,
attorneys and groups seeking to drive the industry out
of business continue to file suits based on the actions
of criminals. Congress has moved to block these types
of frivolous suits with legislation.
"This case is
another clear example as to why the Senate should follow
the House and pass the Protection of Lawful Commerce
in Arms Act and prevent further manipulation of the
judicial system by those seeking to circumvent the legislative
process," said Keane.
Last month in a case
brought by the NAACP before Brooklyn, NY, federal court
judge Jack B. Weinstein, an "advisory jury"
refused to find any of 68 firearms industry defendants
liable for creating a "public nuisance" in
New York. Judge Weinstein has yet to finally decide
the case and is free to reject the "advisory"
jury's finding. "Judge Weinstein should follow
both ...
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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