Illinois Ruling Against Gun Makers Brings Offer of Appeal Assistance
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Illinois Ruling Against Gun Makers Brings Offer of Appeal Assistance





In a decisive response to a recent Illinois Appellate Court decision that could clear the way for firearms manufacturers to be held liable if their legally sold products were used in the commission of a crime, the Hunting & Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation (HSSHF) has pledged its financial support to an appeal of the decision and has invited other industries and organizations to aid in the effort. The appellate court decision on December 31, 2001, came in a case involving Chicago police officer Michael Ceriale, who was killed in a public housing project while conducting surveillance of a drug operation in 1998, and four other victims of unrelated criminal shootings. The court ruled that firearms makers could be held liable if the criminal use of their products was an “occurrence” that the manufacturer knew could result from their business practice. “We feel that this decision totally disregards the laws and realities of federally regulated commerce in firearms and would establish untenable burdens on manufacturers and sellers of any legally sold product that might be used in the commission of a crime,” stated Robert Delfay, president and chief executive officer of the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation. “The Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation has, therefore, pledged its full financial support to the appeal of this decision and welcomes support from any citizen, corporation or organization that shares our concern.”

“The court’s reasoning fits the textbook definition of arbitrariness. The principle it announces is lawless because it is incapable of being generalized. It is good for only this one instance,” commented Daniel Polsby, law professor at George Mason University. “The Illinois General Assembly vigorously surveils and regulates the sale of firearms, but the court’s decision effectively sets all the balancing and negotiation and deliberation of the state’s constitutional lawmaking processes at naught. A blow is thus struck against both democratic practice and against the rights of peaceable taxpaying businesses and their customers. The crowning irony is, not a scintilla of public safety is bought with this expensive coin.”

“If this extraordinary legal theory is allowed to go forward, it’s ‘Katie bar the door’ for the manufacturer or retailer of any consumer product if that product’s use in a crime might be reasonably foreseen,” Delfay said. “This ruling is doubtless being cheered by personal injury lawyers who can look forward to suing gasoline refiners, match manufacturers, auto makers, champagne bottlers, box cutters and any other supplier of a legitimate consumer product for any foreseeable use of their products in crime.”
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