- Apr 14, 2001
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Supreme Court Says Lawsuits Against Gunmakers Invalid
Updated: Tue, Oct 09 3:58 PM EDT
By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Gun makers persuaded the Supreme Court not to revive a case testing the companies' liability for the lethal effects of their products.
The court, without comment, refused Tuesday to review a ruling that protects weapon makers from a round of local government lawsuits in Louisiana.
The legal landscape has improved for gun manufacturers since 1999, when many cities and counties were filing suit seeking to recover tax money spent dealing with gun violence.
The Clinton administration threatened a national class-action lawsuit claiming that guns and how they are marketed have contributed to violence in public housing projects, but never filed it.
The Bush administration has not pursued such a case. Critics have said they dislike Attorney General John Ashcroft's close ties to the National Rifle Association. Ashcroft had written a high-ranking NRA official earlier this year reassuring the organization of his belief that the Constitution's 2nd Amendment means the public has a right to keep arms.
New Orleans was the first city to file a lawsuit accusing gun makers of selling unsafe products. The case was blocked by the Louisiana Legislature, which passed a law retroactively banning those types of suits. Another 26 states have passed similar laws, at the urging of the National Rifle Association.
The Supreme Court declined without comment to review a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that upheld that state's prohibition. The refusal likely chills cities' efforts to sue gun makers in the face of state bans.
Similar Georgia and Michigan laws have been contested, and attorney Dennis A. Henigan said gun makers could eventually face trials in those states.
"We do not believe these special interest statutes will succeed in protecting the industry from accountability for its misconduct," said Henigan, who is with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
He said government lawsuits against gun makers are also pending in other states including California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Ohio and New York.
Jim Baker, chief lobbyist for the NRA, said gun makers have won about 10 of the cases. He said government leaders, not courts, should be reviewing gun policies.
The gun litigation began after states sued tobacco companies to recover tax money spent on smoking-related illnesses. New Orleans filed its suit in 1998 and was copied by dozens of cities and counties around the nation.
"Ever since tobacco hit big, everybody is looking for the next tobacco payday," said Dane Ciolino, a law professor at Loyola University-New Orleans. "The tobacco litigation was very successful and this has really fallen flat."
The first tobacco lawsuit was filed in 1994 by Mississippi. Cigarette makers settled out of court with states for $246 billion.
The gun lawsuits sought to force manufacturers to repay hundreds of millions of dollars that local governments have spent cleaning up from gun violence. State laws made many of those suits moot.
"The Founding Fathers sought to prevent precisely this sort of targeted legislation," New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial said in urging the Supreme Court to take the appeal.
Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster, who has maintained that gun makers are legal corporations and should not be sued by the government, said the court's refusal to intervene is "a victory for common sense."
The companies that were sued, including Smith & Wesson Corp. and Glock Corp., said that New Orleans tried to overstep its bounds with the lawsuit: "However described, New Orleans is still a city, not the 51st state."
Updated: Tue, Oct 09 3:58 PM EDT
By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Gun makers persuaded the Supreme Court not to revive a case testing the companies' liability for the lethal effects of their products.
The court, without comment, refused Tuesday to review a ruling that protects weapon makers from a round of local government lawsuits in Louisiana.
The legal landscape has improved for gun manufacturers since 1999, when many cities and counties were filing suit seeking to recover tax money spent dealing with gun violence.
The Clinton administration threatened a national class-action lawsuit claiming that guns and how they are marketed have contributed to violence in public housing projects, but never filed it.
The Bush administration has not pursued such a case. Critics have said they dislike Attorney General John Ashcroft's close ties to the National Rifle Association. Ashcroft had written a high-ranking NRA official earlier this year reassuring the organization of his belief that the Constitution's 2nd Amendment means the public has a right to keep arms.
New Orleans was the first city to file a lawsuit accusing gun makers of selling unsafe products. The case was blocked by the Louisiana Legislature, which passed a law retroactively banning those types of suits. Another 26 states have passed similar laws, at the urging of the National Rifle Association.
The Supreme Court declined without comment to review a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that upheld that state's prohibition. The refusal likely chills cities' efforts to sue gun makers in the face of state bans.
Similar Georgia and Michigan laws have been contested, and attorney Dennis A. Henigan said gun makers could eventually face trials in those states.
"We do not believe these special interest statutes will succeed in protecting the industry from accountability for its misconduct," said Henigan, who is with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
He said government lawsuits against gun makers are also pending in other states including California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Ohio and New York.
Jim Baker, chief lobbyist for the NRA, said gun makers have won about 10 of the cases. He said government leaders, not courts, should be reviewing gun policies.
The gun litigation began after states sued tobacco companies to recover tax money spent on smoking-related illnesses. New Orleans filed its suit in 1998 and was copied by dozens of cities and counties around the nation.
"Ever since tobacco hit big, everybody is looking for the next tobacco payday," said Dane Ciolino, a law professor at Loyola University-New Orleans. "The tobacco litigation was very successful and this has really fallen flat."
The first tobacco lawsuit was filed in 1994 by Mississippi. Cigarette makers settled out of court with states for $246 billion.
The gun lawsuits sought to force manufacturers to repay hundreds of millions of dollars that local governments have spent cleaning up from gun violence. State laws made many of those suits moot.
"The Founding Fathers sought to prevent precisely this sort of targeted legislation," New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial said in urging the Supreme Court to take the appeal.
Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster, who has maintained that gun makers are legal corporations and should not be sued by the government, said the court's refusal to intervene is "a victory for common sense."
The companies that were sued, including Smith & Wesson Corp. and Glock Corp., said that New Orleans tried to overstep its bounds with the lawsuit: "However described, New Orleans is still a city, not the 51st state."
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