California Appellate Court Upholds Dismissal Of Los Angeles and San Francisco Suit Against Gun Makers
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California Appellate Court Upholds Dismissal Of Los Angeles and San Francisco Suit Against Gun Makers





NEWTOWN, Conn.—A San Francisco-based California appellate court yesterday unanimously upheld a superior court decision dismissing lawsuits filed by Los Angeles, San Francisco and twelve other California municipalities against members of the firearms industry. The cities had claimed the defendants’ lawful and highly regulated business practices were “unfair, deceptive and fraudulent” and caused the criminal misuse of firearms in California, resulting in a “public nuisance.” San Diego County superior court judge Vincent P. DiFiglia originally dismissed those claims in March 2003.

In his dismissal, Judge DiFiglia said, “discovery has produced a mountain of data but significantly, however, none of this data reflects evidence of the type of transactions complained of by plaintiffs, i.e., straw purchases, illegal sales by federally licensed dealers, gun show sales or kitchen table transactions, which can be causally attributed to these manufacturers and distributors. There is no competent evidence before the Court that any criminal acquisition can be attributed to conduct by the gun industry defendants.”

In affirming Judge DiFiglia’s decision, appellate court judge James Marchiano, writing for a unanimous Court of Appeals, 1st Appellate District, found, “The only business practice the defendants in this case have engaged in is marketing their products in a lawful manner to federally licensed dealers.” Echoing the superior court’s finding, the appellate court said, “In this case, there is no causal connection between any conduct of the defendants and any incident of illegal acquisition of firearms or criminal acts or accidental injury by a firearm. Defendants manufacture guns according to federal law and guidelines.”

Judge Marchiano continued, “No evidence in this case hints that any of the manufacturer defendants provided weapons to criminals or failed to properly record sales or did any of the other acts that plaintiffs characterize as high-risk business practices. They did not control the wrongful acts or encourage others to engage in questionable acts. Neither did they change their business practices to avoid proposed regulations or advise retailers on ways to circumvent the law. The record in this case shows that the only business practice that these defendants engage in is the manufacture and sale of firearms to dealers that are licensed as such by the federal government. Plaintiffs have cited no cases finding a manufacturer has engaged in an unfair practice solely by legally selling a non-defective product based on actions taken by entities further along the chain of distribution. Even plaintiffs’ experts could not present an evidentiary link between the manufacturer of a firearm and a retail gun dealer who sold guns that ended up in criminal circumstances. It is important to emphasize that the evidence presented did not show that any defendant had actual knowledge that specific retailers were illegally supplying guns to the crime gun market or took any action to aid or encourage such activity.”

Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), said, “Yesterday’s decision was a definitive victory for our industry and the latest in a continuing string of major setbacks for antigun groups led by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Their junk-lawsuit scheme, based on utterly discredited legal theories, has so far failed in its attempt to destroy and bankrupt a responsible and law-abiding industry by blaming us for the actions of criminals.”

NSSF is the firearm industry’s trade association and was a defendant in the suits.

Keane added, “While we are thankful that yet another appellate court has rejected this attempt to abuse of our judicial system, the need for Congress to act swiftly to enact much needed reforms to our nation’s legal system to stop lawsuit abuse against legitimate businesses, including members of our industry, has never been more urgent. Our industry has been forced to spend over $200 million defending against these outrageous and demonstrably false allegations, with no end in sight,” said Keane. “We look forward to the imminent introduction of the ‘Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,’ which will help put an end to lawsuit abuse.”

The “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” sponsored in the House of Representatives by Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and in the Senate by Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), is expected to be introduced next week.

The bill is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, and National Association of Wholesalers as well as organized labor unions that supported Senator John Kerry’s failed presidential bid.

To read the Court of Appeals opinion click on
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A103211.DOC





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