A recent ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Glock and a Seattle-based gun dealer not liable for a shooting that occurred nearly ten years ago. Citing a federal law from 2005, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, that prohibits lawsuits against gun manufacturers, the panel ruled 2 to 1 in favor of Glock.
The case in question is a civil suit brought by victims and family members affected by Buford Furrow’s 1999 race-fueled shooting. Three children, a teen and two adults were wounded or killed during the onslaught. Furrow is serving five life sentences.
This ruling is important because it sets precedent that the law enacted in 2005 is constitutional. As long as a gun company has the proper licensing- albeit state or federal or both- they are protected from civil lawsuits.
The 2005 Protection Act was enacted partly in response to an earlier ruling on the Glock case in 2003 where an appeals court ruled that the company could be sued “on the common-law claims of creation of a public nuisance and marketing negligence.” Lawyers for the plaintiff asserted that Glock’s marketing campaign targeted illegal purchasers (the classic ‘If he took his meds, give him a gun for Christmas’ campaign.)
Sayre Weaver, a lawyer for the plaintiff calls the Protection Act “special interest legislation” continuing with “The law takes tort victims who have claims under state law and says ‘You’re just like every other tort victims but you can’t sue this group of defendants.’ It’s Congress saying, ‘Because it happens your claims are against a gun manufacturer, you’re out of court, you’re out of luck.’ That’s a very scary thing.”
As scary as it may be what exactly can gun company’s do to prevent psychos from using their products to kill others. Buford, the man in question, was a law-abiding citizen for most of his life with plenty of opportunity to legally purchase firearms. Yes, he was a racist who went nuts and killed people, but this seems more like the exception to the rule than the rule itself. I cannot fathom what Glock could have done differently (short of closing down and recalling all its products) to prevent the tragic events that took place in 1999.
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