Hey, let’s sue gun makers
Like any major public health problem, stemming gun violence will require multiple, overlapping strategies. Let me offer another one, overlooked until now, but potentially a dynamo: Repeal the little-known, but pernicious, Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. In other words, reopen the door to lawsuits against gun sellers for wrongful conduct in the design and marketing of their weapons. …
When a state or city can convince a court that an activity threatens the safety of its citizens, it can require the nuisance-causer, like a toxic waste dumper, to stop, and to pay for the cost of clean-up. …
We should care about preserving the right to sue not only for those who are injured or killed, but because litigation is a useful supplement to regulation. Especially for guns, given that regulation is anemic in the first place. Often, defendants will change their behavior—self-regulate, in other words—rather than risk liability. Faced with the public nuisance suits, Smith & Wesson agreed to limit retail customers to no more than one gun within a two-week period and threatened dealers with cancellation of their contracts if “a disproportionate number” of crimes were committed with guns they sold. S&W also began installing safely locks on its weapons. That last bit is particularly important because the Consumer Product Safety Commission is forbidden from regulating firearms. …
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The stupid runs deep in these people.
Frank Enstine on December 20, 2012 at 8:53 AM
ah yes our liberties completely eroded away by endless lawsuits. That pesky constitution won’t let them ban guns so they’ll just sue the gun manufacturers until they can’t afford to be in business.
bannor on December 20, 2012 at 8:54 AM
I’m still waiting for my tobacco suit money. When are the states going to distribute that to all of us ex-smokers?
Lost in Jersey on December 20, 2012 at 8:56 AM
This is stupid.
This clown must be a lawyer.
darwin on December 20, 2012 at 8:57 AM
Whom does one sue? The toxic waste, its producer, or the dumper?
IDIOT!
OldEnglish on December 20, 2012 at 8:58 AM
of course if we can endlessly sue S&W or Bushmaster why can’t we sue NBC every time they lie about something? The damage caused by inaccurate reporting has to out do the damage caused by the odd nut with a gun or some gangbanger with a stolen weapon. Any one thing the MSM’s business model would weather those lawsuits longer than a gun manufacturer?
bannor on December 20, 2012 at 8:58 AM
These people are insane. This is the one issue that I believe could actually spark a r3voluti0n, and I think it’d be justified. If they actually go ahead with their plans and enact some type of European-style gun ban (minus Switzerland, obviously), the only thing standing between the United States and tyranny would be the good intentions of our benevolent rulers.
The 2nd Amendment is about protecting the people from the government. Not hunting, not personal self defense. Read the friggin’ Constitution. It’s not long.
Living4Him5534 on December 20, 2012 at 8:59 AM
Any company sued should immediately be supported by us buying every weapon they make, as fast as they can produce them.
Fight idiocy with iron resolve.
hawkdriver on December 20, 2012 at 9:03 AM
It’s particularly important because they were not forced to by a government edict. The free market entered into the decion-making process. The company did it on its own, relying on consumers to make a choice if they wanted the safety feature. Those that didn’t, buy another brand. Those that do, buy Smith & Wesson. The governement had no place in the decision.
Mitoch55 on December 20, 2012 at 9:04 AM
Lunatics won’t have guns if the mental health system in this country were such that said lunatics would be in a hospital, instead of anywhere near a gun.
Sekhmet on December 20, 2012 at 9:04 AM
Self defense includes defending oneself from tyranny.
darwin on December 20, 2012 at 9:05 AM
And people wonder why Slip N’ Fall trial lawyers all vote for Leftists.
visions on December 20, 2012 at 9:06 AM
So, if we repeal this law can we sue Eric Holder and Obama for intentionally giving guns to criminals?
Curmudgeon on December 20, 2012 at 9:08 AM
We don’t need to keep guns away from lunatics. We need to keep lunatics away from guns. Gun manufacturers can’t guarantee the mental health of all people associated with a given legal purchaser.
Sekhmet on December 20, 2012 at 9:09 AM
Hey, lets sue those who sue gun makers for harassment and tar and feathers for judges allergic to the Second Amendment.
viking01 on December 20, 2012 at 9:13 AM
I think that is happening right now. Many places are sold out and prices have gone through the roof. If we were well armed before we are getting really well armed since the dems took over.
Frank Enstine on December 20, 2012 at 9:14 AM
Agreed! And since heart disease is so prevalent we should be suing the food and candy manufacturers who are contributing to the problem.
Bishop on December 20, 2012 at 9:15 AM
I’m trying but wow, everyone except Cabelas has empty shelves now. My little local place, just a hole in the wall, sold 150 guns yesterday; people were buying everything, they didn’t care who made it or whatever.
Bishop on December 20, 2012 at 9:17 AM
let’s sue vacuum and forceps manufacturers too.
tom daschle concerned on December 20, 2012 at 9:21 AM
And we can sue car manufactures for wackjobs that run people down in downtown famers markets.
And we can sue phone companies for selling cell phones to people that cause brain tumors.
And we can sue the electric company for people that get electrocuted accidently.
And we can sue the alcoholic beverage makers for when some schmutz gets drunk and kills someone in a car accident.
And and and and….
Where will it end?
Nawww, none of that would happen. Just the gun thing right?
44Magnum on December 20, 2012 at 9:21 AM
John Culhane seems like your typical rainbow…shove their values down everyone’s throats and then try and take yours away via lawyers.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118395212/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1118395212&linkCode=as2&tag=slatmaga-20
Mimzey on December 20, 2012 at 9:25 AM
Safely locks? Is it too much to ask these idiots to speak English?
CorporatePiggy on December 20, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Sue GM. Lots of folks die in that company’s product.
The only reason we NEED lawyers is because we have lawyers.
Jabberwock on December 20, 2012 at 9:28 AM
Well played.
Bishop on December 20, 2012 at 9:29 AM
Where will it end?
Nawww, none of that would happen. Just the gun thing right?
44Magnum on December 20, 2012 at 9:21 AM
it ends in starvation gulags and ovens. the left hasn’t changed. their anti-human march towards hell on earth continues.
tom daschle concerned on December 20, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Hey, lets sue gun free zone activists! They fail every time they’re tested.
If gun free zones were a product, the ambulance chasing trial lawyers would be reaping billions by now.
JellyToast on December 20, 2012 at 9:35 AM
It didn’t work before (the 90′s).
Gun makers aren’t giant corporations that can survive these attacks.
Colt and S & W stopped making two very nice pistols ( I remember those two because I would like to replace them) and IIRC Colt got out of the AR-15 to civilians business in a deal with the feds to not get sued out of business.
cozmo on December 20, 2012 at 9:39 AM
The media is the root of our problems.
Sanity is not heard enough.
None of these ‘solutions’ would have stopped the rampage.
Organize and fight.
GardenGnome on December 20, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Try a lawsuite against Government Motors for traffic fatalities. As we know, car salesmen are the most ethical people in the world who are the epitomy of integrity. How about taking the defense lawyer to court because he got a thug off and the thug goes out and commits another crime. People become lawyers because they are too unethical to be used car salesmen. Can we sue politicians for things like the ObamaCare health control bill? And unions, and fast food, and….. It has to stop somewhere, right? No! It must never start!
DAT60A3 on December 20, 2012 at 9:43 AM
This crib lawsuit was over just 11 deaths.
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/simplicity-cribs-linked-to-11-deaths-7372/
How many children have died in gun free zones? The people who push gun free zones should be sued for the deaths their defective zones have caused! They fail ever time they are tested. They can never live up to the promises their supporters push. Sue them!
We have to think the way liberals do.
JellyToast on December 20, 2012 at 9:45 AM
The purpose of the law was to emphasize that making a weapon to efficiently kill people/critters is the whole point of the design and marketing. It’s what firearms do.
GWB on December 20, 2012 at 9:47 AM
They tried that in CA. It didn’t work. It was really another way to extort money by the government.
Blake on December 20, 2012 at 9:48 AM
In plain English it’s “home invader protection locks.”
Akzed on December 20, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Then our brains would atrophy like theirs.
Akzed on December 20, 2012 at 9:55 AM
Why can’t we have a massive lawsuit against the government for coming to a fiscal cliff?
It’s never been done? That’s never stopped a liberal.
I’d love to see a massive class action lawsuit that involved about 50,000,000 people suing the President and congress and judges for how they have taken a major supper power and brought it to near bankruptcy.
If our government were a corporation, people would be in jail!
JellyToast on December 20, 2012 at 9:56 AM
How about we sue John Culhane for try to abridge our Constitutional rights, heck it might even be a civil rights violation, in which case the govt picks up the tab win or lose.
LincolntheHun on December 20, 2012 at 10:12 AM
Here we have another lie by a leftard. Gee, who would have guessed that a leftist would lie about a gun law? /
The PLCAA doesn’t indemnify gun makers or sellers from misconduct. As the title of the act states, it protects lawful commerce from malicious lawsuits designed to drive the maker or seller out of business.
single stack on December 20, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Does anyone know how this whackjob got to the school in the first place? Walk? Drive? Take the bus?
Sue Nike.
Sue Ford.
Sue MCI.
CurtZHP on December 20, 2012 at 10:25 AM
[JellyToast on December 20, 2012 at 9:35 AM]
Not just the activists but the politicians and school district officials who put them in place. They should be held personally and individually liable for the results of their using privates citizens as guinea pigs for their hare-brained schemes like gun free zones.
And while we are at it, let’s hold media corporations liable for wrongful conduct in their design and marketing of their products every time it fraudulently or negligently misleads, omits, or edits that results in the misrepresentation of events or issues in their reporting. And in honor of Obamacare, the media should be required to investigate and report on events and issues with a tax being imposed if they fail to do so. Oh and to carry malpractice insurance to cover failures when opinion writing is falsely sold as news reporting.
Yeah, that’s it, everyone has a right to accessible, affordable, comprehensive and accurate news reporting. This should be simple to accomplish with a, oh, 2,000 page piece of legislation which needs to be passed before we can know what is in it. Not to worry though, we can be sure to tailor it so that if someone has their favorite news source they can keep their favorite news source.
Dusty on December 20, 2012 at 10:29 AM
Heh, I love it. Right after the election, I tried to buy an AK-74. (yes, 74) Everybody was back-ordered. I finally found a mom and pop out of Oregon and had one shipped in. Now, I can’t find spare mags anywhere. Everything the guy in this book predicted is coming to pass. Fun times.
PrepperMark (formerly known as SailorMark)
SailorMark on December 20, 2012 at 10:56 AM
A lot of them settled in the Charleston, SC area. These lawyers are obscenely wealthy. One of my first cousin knows them very well. My cousin has made a small fortune selling health and life insurance. We both think that tort reform is needed especially in the medical system.
SC.Charlie on December 20, 2012 at 11:18 AM