Here's an article from an Illinois based newspaper that clearly shows the anti-gun sentiment we all fear.
Despite numerous court rulings that upheld the relatively new law that protects gun makers from lawsuits, one rogue judge is attempting to project his anti-gun views under the guise of due process.
I would suspect that Sturm Ruger and its attorneys will not be alone in providing a defense against this latest nuisance ruling. There is another pro-gun organization out there that will likely join the fray.
Gary's gun lawsuit dodges a bullet
(http://www.post-trib.com/news/114952,gunsuit.article)
October 28, 2006
By ANDY GRIMM Post-Tribune
The city's lawsuit against gun makers and local dealers received a boost this week when a Lake County judge ruled a year-old federal law shielding gun makers from lawsuits is unconstitutional.
In a strongly worded opinion, Lake Superior Court Judge Robert A. Pete denied gun makers' request to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Gary seven years ago that alleges gun makers do little to control the flow of handguns used in crimes.
The federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, passed last year with backing from the gun industry in response to a wave of lawsuits similar to Gary's case, would deprive the city of its rights of due process, Pete said.
"Our Supreme Court has long recognized laws that are applied retroactively and ... serve as a deprivation of our existing rights are particularly unsuited to a democracy such as ours," Pete wrote.
Though gun makers are almost certain to appeal, city attorney Tony Walker said Pete's ruling should allow the city to begin requesting internal documents and records from the 16 gun makers named in the suit.
"We are moving into an aggressive litigation standpoint," said Walker, who is working on the case with help from the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Center.
"We want to start deposing (gun company) executives and getting to the heart of how guns get onto the streets of Gary."
Gary's lawsuit is one of three remaining cases filed by U.S. cities against gun manufacturers, most of them filed in the late 1990s with the help of Brady Center attorneys. About a dozen cases have been dismissed since the federal shield law was passed a year ago, said attorney James Dorr, who represents Connecticut gun maker Sturm Ruger Co.
"With all due respect to Judge Pete, we think (the ruling) is an error," Dorr said. "Every other court to consider the constitutionality of this act has considered it constitutional."
Gary's suit already has survived challenges that have carried the case all the way to the state Supreme Court, and state legislation that gave immunity to gun dealers.
Gary was one of more than 20 cities that filed lawsuits against gun makers and dealers during the late 1990s. Gary and four other cities still have cases pending before the courts, while the rest were dropped or dismissed because of state or federal immunity laws adopted after they were filed.
The case rises out a series of sting operations carried out by Gary police during the 1990s, where undercover officers made "straw" purchases of handguns at eight local gun dealers. Hidden cameras recorded the vendors sold guns to the officers who said they were buying the guns to resell them on the street.
From 1996 to 2000, trace data compiled by the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation showed that the eight local dealers named in the suit sold 3,482 guns that were used in crimes.
Westforth Sports in Gary sold nearly 700 crime guns during the period, ranking it among the top 20 sellers of crime guns in the country.
"The gun makers, and certainly the dealers, are aware of the numbers," said Brian Siebel, an attorney for the Brady Center.
"Alarm bells should have been going off, and while this case has been pending, they still have done nothing to keep from funneling guns into the hands of criminals."
Contact Andy Grimm at 648-3073 or agrimm@post-trib.com
Despite numerous court rulings that upheld the relatively new law that protects gun makers from lawsuits, one rogue judge is attempting to project his anti-gun views under the guise of due process.
I would suspect that Sturm Ruger and its attorneys will not be alone in providing a defense against this latest nuisance ruling. There is another pro-gun organization out there that will likely join the fray.
Gary's gun lawsuit dodges a bullet
(http://www.post-trib.com/news/114952,gunsuit.article)
October 28, 2006
By ANDY GRIMM Post-Tribune
The city's lawsuit against gun makers and local dealers received a boost this week when a Lake County judge ruled a year-old federal law shielding gun makers from lawsuits is unconstitutional.
In a strongly worded opinion, Lake Superior Court Judge Robert A. Pete denied gun makers' request to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Gary seven years ago that alleges gun makers do little to control the flow of handguns used in crimes.
The federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, passed last year with backing from the gun industry in response to a wave of lawsuits similar to Gary's case, would deprive the city of its rights of due process, Pete said.
"Our Supreme Court has long recognized laws that are applied retroactively and ... serve as a deprivation of our existing rights are particularly unsuited to a democracy such as ours," Pete wrote.
Though gun makers are almost certain to appeal, city attorney Tony Walker said Pete's ruling should allow the city to begin requesting internal documents and records from the 16 gun makers named in the suit.
"We are moving into an aggressive litigation standpoint," said Walker, who is working on the case with help from the Washington, D.C.-based Brady Center.
"We want to start deposing (gun company) executives and getting to the heart of how guns get onto the streets of Gary."
Gary's lawsuit is one of three remaining cases filed by U.S. cities against gun manufacturers, most of them filed in the late 1990s with the help of Brady Center attorneys. About a dozen cases have been dismissed since the federal shield law was passed a year ago, said attorney James Dorr, who represents Connecticut gun maker Sturm Ruger Co.
"With all due respect to Judge Pete, we think (the ruling) is an error," Dorr said. "Every other court to consider the constitutionality of this act has considered it constitutional."
Gary's suit already has survived challenges that have carried the case all the way to the state Supreme Court, and state legislation that gave immunity to gun dealers.
Gary was one of more than 20 cities that filed lawsuits against gun makers and dealers during the late 1990s. Gary and four other cities still have cases pending before the courts, while the rest were dropped or dismissed because of state or federal immunity laws adopted after they were filed.
The case rises out a series of sting operations carried out by Gary police during the 1990s, where undercover officers made "straw" purchases of handguns at eight local gun dealers. Hidden cameras recorded the vendors sold guns to the officers who said they were buying the guns to resell them on the street.
From 1996 to 2000, trace data compiled by the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation showed that the eight local dealers named in the suit sold 3,482 guns that were used in crimes.
Westforth Sports in Gary sold nearly 700 crime guns during the period, ranking it among the top 20 sellers of crime guns in the country.
"The gun makers, and certainly the dealers, are aware of the numbers," said Brian Siebel, an attorney for the Brady Center.
"Alarm bells should have been going off, and while this case has been pending, they still have done nothing to keep from funneling guns into the hands of criminals."
Contact Andy Grimm at 648-3073 or agrimm@post-trib.com