Washington adds to list of cities suing gunmakers
By Vicky Stamas
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Washington on Thursday became the 30th U.S.
locality to sue the gun industry, seeking to stem the flow of illegal weapons
into the city and to win compensation for health care and other costs.
"We are supposed to have the toughest gun prohibition in the nation and yet
our streets are flooded with guns," said District of Columbia Mayor Anthony
Williams.
The suit against 23 gun makers and two distributors relies on a 1990 D.C. law
against certain assault weapons and "machine guns," which were broadly
defined as any semi-automatic capable of firing more than 12 rounds.
Although the city has prohibited unregistered firearms and banned the
registration of all handguns since 1976, the suit charges the defendants with
aiding circumvention of the law.
Dubbed the nation's murder capital in the late 1980s and early 1990s because
of its high homicide rate, guns were still the weapon of choice in nearly 80
percent of Washington's 232 murders committed in 1999, preliminary city
figures show.
The suit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleges the gun companies and
distributors knew about, or should have known about, numerous ways in which
Washington's laws were undermined by lax sales and security practices in
other jurisdictions.
The city seeks unspecified damages for healthcare treatment and compensation
provided to emergency workers, as well as punitive damages.
"For too long the gun industry has profited while our best and brightest
hopes for the future have been snuffed out by illegal guns that should never
have been allowed to hit our streets," Williams told a press conference.
NRA SAYS SUIT COWARDLY
The National Rifle Association condemned the suit as a cowardly solution to
crime in the national capital, charging that existing laws were not being
enforced.
"We challenge the mayor to join us in walking the halls of Congress to ask
for 50 federal prosecutors to enforce the existing federal gun laws here in
Washington," said NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre.
The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence said Washington's suit brought to 30
the number of cities and counties nationwide that have filed a total of 20
lawsuits against gunmakers.
Washington's lawsuit had special significance because the 1990 law gave it a
potent legal tool not available to the other cities, the center said.
"The District of Columbia has turned up the heat on the gun industry," said
Dennis Henigan, director of the center's Legal Action Project which is
co-counsel for 24 of the 30 plaintiffs across the country, including
Washington.
Typically the other suits charge the gun industry with failing to fit guns
with locking devices and for oversupplying localities with weak gun laws,
knowing they would flow into areas with stricter controls.
Other localities have similarly demanded reimbursement for police and
hospital expenses, punitive damages and changes in the distribution and
manufacture of firearms.
The city and county lawsuits have yet to go to trial, mired in pre-trial
legal jousting. Judges have granted gunmakers' pretrial motions to dismiss
challenges by Cincinnati, Ohio; Bridgeport, Conn. and Miami-Dade County, Fla.
Those cities are expected to appeal.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has also threatened to
file a class action lawsuit against the gun industry on behalf of public
housing authorities around the country.
21:42 01-20-00
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
By Vicky Stamas
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Washington on Thursday became the 30th U.S.
locality to sue the gun industry, seeking to stem the flow of illegal weapons
into the city and to win compensation for health care and other costs.
"We are supposed to have the toughest gun prohibition in the nation and yet
our streets are flooded with guns," said District of Columbia Mayor Anthony
Williams.
The suit against 23 gun makers and two distributors relies on a 1990 D.C. law
against certain assault weapons and "machine guns," which were broadly
defined as any semi-automatic capable of firing more than 12 rounds.
Although the city has prohibited unregistered firearms and banned the
registration of all handguns since 1976, the suit charges the defendants with
aiding circumvention of the law.
Dubbed the nation's murder capital in the late 1980s and early 1990s because
of its high homicide rate, guns were still the weapon of choice in nearly 80
percent of Washington's 232 murders committed in 1999, preliminary city
figures show.
The suit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleges the gun companies and
distributors knew about, or should have known about, numerous ways in which
Washington's laws were undermined by lax sales and security practices in
other jurisdictions.
The city seeks unspecified damages for healthcare treatment and compensation
provided to emergency workers, as well as punitive damages.
"For too long the gun industry has profited while our best and brightest
hopes for the future have been snuffed out by illegal guns that should never
have been allowed to hit our streets," Williams told a press conference.
NRA SAYS SUIT COWARDLY
The National Rifle Association condemned the suit as a cowardly solution to
crime in the national capital, charging that existing laws were not being
enforced.
"We challenge the mayor to join us in walking the halls of Congress to ask
for 50 federal prosecutors to enforce the existing federal gun laws here in
Washington," said NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre.
The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence said Washington's suit brought to 30
the number of cities and counties nationwide that have filed a total of 20
lawsuits against gunmakers.
Washington's lawsuit had special significance because the 1990 law gave it a
potent legal tool not available to the other cities, the center said.
"The District of Columbia has turned up the heat on the gun industry," said
Dennis Henigan, director of the center's Legal Action Project which is
co-counsel for 24 of the 30 plaintiffs across the country, including
Washington.
Typically the other suits charge the gun industry with failing to fit guns
with locking devices and for oversupplying localities with weak gun laws,
knowing they would flow into areas with stricter controls.
Other localities have similarly demanded reimbursement for police and
hospital expenses, punitive damages and changes in the distribution and
manufacture of firearms.
The city and county lawsuits have yet to go to trial, mired in pre-trial
legal jousting. Judges have granted gunmakers' pretrial motions to dismiss
challenges by Cincinnati, Ohio; Bridgeport, Conn. and Miami-Dade County, Fla.
Those cities are expected to appeal.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has also threatened to
file a class action lawsuit against the gun industry on behalf of public
housing authorities around the country.
21:42 01-20-00
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
