Gun Safety Sought Through Suits Against Manufacturers

Over the past two years, states and their subdivisions have battled the gun industry – and each other – over groundbreaking lawsuits filed against the manufacturers and marketers of firearms.

Spurred by the success of lawsuits against the tobacco industry, one state (New York) and 32 cities and counties have filed 22 civil suits against gun makers, arguing that they are responsible for injuries caused by their weapons based on diverse legal theories from product liability to creating a public nuisance.

Reacting to these suits, pro-gun advocates led by the National Rifle Association have pushed a wave of legislation designed to preempt or cut off these local government lawsuits. Twenty-two states have passed such legislation, including six in 2000 (Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia).

More than 20 other states have considered laws to shield the gun industry from liability, including this year in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Washington and Wisconsin. It is expected to continue as a hot topic in 2001 legislative sessions.

Last year in a case filed by private plaintiffs, a jury in New York City recognized that the gun industry has a legal duty to police the distribution of its products. Three gun manufacturers, American Arms, Beretta and Tauras were found liable for injuries to a shooting victim. The jury concluded that the companies failed to take reasonable steps to prevent their guns from causing injury.

The plaintiffs in that case cited a study by the National Economic Research Association showing that gun dealers in states with weak gun control laws are supplied with far more guns than their local markets can absorb. Manufacturers oversupply these markets, knowing that many of the guns will be bought by criminals and traffickers who cross state lines. The plaintiffs also cited recent studies by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) finding a high percentage of guns used in crime were purchased from gun dealers – in seemingly legal transactions – and then resold to youth gangs or felons.

In addition to this argument that gun makers and marketers are distributing their product in a negligent manner making it likely that handguns will end up in the wrong hands, state lawsuits also claim that gun manufacturers are using unsafe gun designs. creating defective products. which make accidents and unauthorized uses much more likely, and further that deceptive gun advertising and marketing misleads members of the law-abiding public about the risks of keeping a firearm in the home, increasing the likelihood of homicides, suicides, and accidental deaths.

With these civil suits, local governments seek to reform the way guns are made and sold in America – and already, these cases have had a substantial impact. Large gun dealers in Cook County, Illinois and Gary, Indiana have changed their practices to settle local government lawsuits. Colt announced that it would stop selling handguns to civilians. And, most significant, the nation’s largest handgun manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, agreed to a sweeping set of reforms in the way it does business.

“The Smith & Wesson settlement was a breakthrough for public safety,” said Dennis Henigan, Director of the Legal Action Project at the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. “The cities brought these lawsuits to fundamentally change the way guns are made and sold and this agreement is an important first step. The cities will continue to aggressively pursue their litigation against other manufacturers, distributors and retailers.”

States Which Have Enacted Laws To Preempt Government Lawsuits Against The Gun Industry Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

 The Legal Action Project of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, a non-profit organization affiliated with Handgun Control, Inc., is acting as co-counsel or legal advisor in nearly all of the city and county lawsuits. For more information about their work, see www.gunlawsuits.com.

See also CPA’s policy briefs on Gun Lawsuits and Preventing Gun Violence.