Drizzt
Member
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press.
February 28, 2003, Friday, BC cycle
4:46 AM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 368 words
HEADLINE: Indiana Supreme Court hears Gary lawsuit
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
BODY:
Attorneys for the city of Gary, Ind., asked the Indiana Supreme Court to allow the city to proceed with a lawsuit holding gun dealers and manufacturers accountable for decades of gun violence.
"It is very foreseeable that, if these guns are sold into the wrong hand, that harm will result," Brian Siebel, an attorney with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said Thursday during hourlong arguments.
Attorneys for manufacturers like Smith & Wesson, Beretta U.S.A. Corp. and Glock Corp. said the case would establish a precedent that manufacturers could be held responsible for criminal acts by someone outside of their control.
"It's similar to permitting people to sue auto manufacturers for accidents or parking tickets, or McDonald's for litter," said attorney James Door.
The city's lawsuit, filed more than two years ago, accuses the gun businesses of becoming a public nuisance by fueling crime. It was modeled after similar lawsuits by Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis and other cities.
The northwest Indiana city of 103,000 has had the highest per capita homicide rate in the United States for eight consecutive years.
The city alleged that officers made illegal "straw" weapons purchases at three Gary gun dealerships in 1999.
A straw purchase is defined as the purchase of a gun by a person with a clean criminal background who intends to transfer the gun to someone forbidden by federal law to own one, usually a convicted criminal.
The original defendants were gun manufacturers and distributors, five local dealers and three trade associations. The lawsuit accused all 21 parties of selling weapons to gang members and others who were not entitled to own them.
A Lake Superior Court judge dismissed the entire lawsuit in 2001, but the Indiana Court of Appeals in September reinstated the city's claim against three dealers where it said undercover gun purchases had been made.
If the state Supreme Court rules in the city's favor, the lawsuit will return to Lake County, Ind., for trial. The court is not expected to rule for several months.
Gary would be the last Indiana city allowed to sue the gun industry because of a 2000 state law barring such lawsuits.
The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press.
February 28, 2003, Friday, BC cycle
4:46 AM Eastern Time
SECTION: State and Regional
LENGTH: 368 words
HEADLINE: Indiana Supreme Court hears Gary lawsuit
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
BODY:
Attorneys for the city of Gary, Ind., asked the Indiana Supreme Court to allow the city to proceed with a lawsuit holding gun dealers and manufacturers accountable for decades of gun violence.
"It is very foreseeable that, if these guns are sold into the wrong hand, that harm will result," Brian Siebel, an attorney with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said Thursday during hourlong arguments.
Attorneys for manufacturers like Smith & Wesson, Beretta U.S.A. Corp. and Glock Corp. said the case would establish a precedent that manufacturers could be held responsible for criminal acts by someone outside of their control.
"It's similar to permitting people to sue auto manufacturers for accidents or parking tickets, or McDonald's for litter," said attorney James Door.
The city's lawsuit, filed more than two years ago, accuses the gun businesses of becoming a public nuisance by fueling crime. It was modeled after similar lawsuits by Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis and other cities.
The northwest Indiana city of 103,000 has had the highest per capita homicide rate in the United States for eight consecutive years.
The city alleged that officers made illegal "straw" weapons purchases at three Gary gun dealerships in 1999.
A straw purchase is defined as the purchase of a gun by a person with a clean criminal background who intends to transfer the gun to someone forbidden by federal law to own one, usually a convicted criminal.
The original defendants were gun manufacturers and distributors, five local dealers and three trade associations. The lawsuit accused all 21 parties of selling weapons to gang members and others who were not entitled to own them.
A Lake Superior Court judge dismissed the entire lawsuit in 2001, but the Indiana Court of Appeals in September reinstated the city's claim against three dealers where it said undercover gun purchases had been made.
If the state Supreme Court rules in the city's favor, the lawsuit will return to Lake County, Ind., for trial. The court is not expected to rule for several months.
Gary would be the last Indiana city allowed to sue the gun industry because of a 2000 state law barring such lawsuits.
