Dec 2, 1999 - 01:23 PM
Gun Dealer to Pay Gary, Ind., and Stop Selling Handguns
By Jr Ross
Associated Press Writer
GARY, Ind. (AP) - A gun dealer agreed Thursday to stop selling handguns and pay this violence-plagued city $10,000 to get itself dropped from Gary's lawsuit accusing the gun industry of putting weapons into criminals' hands.
The settlement is believed to be the first in which a defendant in one of a series of lawsuits brought against the gun industry around the country has agreed to pay money.
Mayor Scott King said Fetla's Trading Co. of Valparaiso will stop selling handguns once its current inventory is depleted.
Fetla's was among 21 gun manufacturers and distributors, five local dealers and three trade associations the city sued in August. The lawsuit accuses the gun industry of selling weapons to criminals and others who aren't entitled to own them.
Three times this decade, Gary has been the nation's murder capital, with more murders per capita than any other U.S. city.
In June, members of an undercover police task force posed as felons and minors and bought weapons at area dealers. Gary used that investigation to join New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Newark, N.J., among others, in suing the industry.
In a statement, Fetla's said illegal gun use was unforseeable by the industry. But it added: "Fetla's believes in what the city is doing."
Nearly 30 U.S. cities and counties have sued gunmakers, dealers and their trade organizations to try to force changes in the industry, according to the Washington-based Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the center, said that gun dealers have settled in at least two other lawsuits but that Fetla's was the first to pay money. In the other cases, the defendants agreed to change their practices and open their records, Ms. Hwa said.
AP-ES-12-02-99 1319EST
Joe's Second Amendment Message Board
Gun Dealer to Pay Gary, Ind., and Stop Selling Handguns
By Jr Ross
Associated Press Writer
GARY, Ind. (AP) - A gun dealer agreed Thursday to stop selling handguns and pay this violence-plagued city $10,000 to get itself dropped from Gary's lawsuit accusing the gun industry of putting weapons into criminals' hands.
The settlement is believed to be the first in which a defendant in one of a series of lawsuits brought against the gun industry around the country has agreed to pay money.
Mayor Scott King said Fetla's Trading Co. of Valparaiso will stop selling handguns once its current inventory is depleted.
Fetla's was among 21 gun manufacturers and distributors, five local dealers and three trade associations the city sued in August. The lawsuit accuses the gun industry of selling weapons to criminals and others who aren't entitled to own them.
Three times this decade, Gary has been the nation's murder capital, with more murders per capita than any other U.S. city.
In June, members of an undercover police task force posed as felons and minors and bought weapons at area dealers. Gary used that investigation to join New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Newark, N.J., among others, in suing the industry.
In a statement, Fetla's said illegal gun use was unforseeable by the industry. But it added: "Fetla's believes in what the city is doing."
Nearly 30 U.S. cities and counties have sued gunmakers, dealers and their trade organizations to try to force changes in the industry, according to the Washington-based Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the center, said that gun dealers have settled in at least two other lawsuits but that Fetla's was the first to pay money. In the other cases, the defendants agreed to change their practices and open their records, Ms. Hwa said.
AP-ES-12-02-99 1319EST
Joe's Second Amendment Message Board