From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
NRA-ILA FAX ALERT
Vol. 7, No. 33
CINCINNATI RECKLESS SUIT CONTINUES TO SUFFER SETBACKS
The City of Cincinnati's reckless lawsuit against lawful gun manufacturers
was dealt another blow last week when the Court of Appeals for the First
District of Ohio unanimously upheld last year's lower court ruling
dismissing the Cincinnati suit. Judge Robert P. Ruehlman handed down the
original dismissal last October, stating "the City's complaint is an
improper attempt to have this Court substitute its judgement for that of
the legislature.... [O]nly the legislature has the power to engage in the
type of regulation that is being sought by the City here. Moreover, the
City's request...exceeds the scope of its municipal powers and...violates
the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution." Judge Ralph
Winkler wrote the majority opinion at the appellate level, stating, among
other things, that the City of Cincinnati is not a proper plaintiff, the
city could not identify a particular product, defect, or defendant, and
Ohio public nuisance laws do not apply to the design of products.
Winkler's opinion concluded by stating that Cincinnati had "failed to
state any claims against the defendants that would allow it to recover its
municipal expenses," and that if the court had ruled in favor of the city,
it would "open a Pandora's box," possibly paving the way for Cincinnati to
"sue the manufacturers of matches for arson, or automobile manufacturers
for traffic accidents, or breweries for drunken driving." Stanley Chesley,
the attorney for Cincinnati, has indicated he will ask the City Council to
appeal the dismissal, but this ruling also gives new strength to the
taxpayer lawsuit against the city funded by NRA-ILA. Based in the state's
"good government" laws, the suit was filed on behalf of City Councilman
Charlie Winburn (R), who opposed the city lawsuit from the beginning. It
asks the court to forbid the city from pursuing its frivolous lawsuit any
further as a grotesque abuse of taxpayer dollars.
We expect the courts will continue to throw out these suits designed to
beat lawful gun makers into submission or drive them to bankruptcy, and we
are prepared to pursue other taxpayer suits against cities to prevent
their use of taxpayer funds to blindly pursue endless appeals of their
frivolous claims. As NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker said after
the first Cincinnati ruling, "[T]his dismissal is a major blow for the
greedy attorneys seeking enormous contingency fees and for the mayors
seeking scapegoats to blame for their own failure to enforce current laws
and prosecute violent criminals. We are confident that other cities that
have filed such reckless lawsuits will soon hear the same message."
Baker's statement holds as true today as it did last October. In fact,
suits filed by Bridgeport, Conn., and Miami-Dade County, Fla., were also
dismissed last year, and part of the city of Chicago's suit was dismissed
earlier this year. Furthermore, NRA has successfully worked to enact
legislation in 23 states to prohibit municipalities from wasting tax
dollars through reckless lawsuits against firearm manufacturers. NRA
continues this legislative effort at the state level, and, at the federal
level, will continue to promote U.S. Representative (and NRA Director) Bob
Barr's (R-Ga.) H.R. 1032, and U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-Utah) S. 2270.
These bills would prohibit any litigation that seeks to hold
manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers responsible for the
criminal or negligent misuse of their products. Both bills are awaiting
further action by the House and Senate.
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION CLOSES WITH LITTLE MENTION OF GUNS
The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles closed last night with
Al Gore's acceptance speech for his party's presidential nomination. As
candidate Gore attempted to paint a picture to the American public of what
he would do if elected president, going into relative detail on most
topics, the subject of "gun control" was very quickly glossed over. Gore's
only comments on firearm-related issues were that he felt America needs
mandatory background checks on gun purchases -- although the National
Instant Check System has been law of the land since November of 1998 --
and mandatory "child safety locks" -- even though virtually every new
handgun sold comes with a gun locking device. This is quite a departure
for Gore, who seeks to further the record of the most anti-gun
administration to ever occupy the White House. In the months preceding the
convention, especially while campaigning in Democratic primaries against
anti-gun former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Gore outlined a
platform that included mandatory licensing and training schemes, a ban on
affordable handguns, and assisting anti-gun big city mayors and greedy
trial lawyers in their efforts to bankrupt lawful gun makers through
reckless lawsuits. But Gore's avoidance of these topics in his speech,
coupled with the fact that there was little mention of guns during the
prime-time coverage slots on the major networks, could be an indication
that Gore wants to avoid the gun issue on a national level. Perhaps Gore
and his handlers realize that overtly attacking law-abiding gun owners is
not a winning strategy, and Gore's anti-gun views are best kept as low key
as possible. Poll after poll shows the majority of Americans support our
Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and only a handful of the more than 4,000
Democratic delegates in L.A. this week bothered to show up for a forum on
Wednesday that was sponsored by Handgun Control, Inc.
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