Reducing Gun Violence Through Civil Litigation

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Reducing Gun Violence Through Civil Litigation
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AMERICAS GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC

• more than 30,000 people killed in homicides,
  suicides, and unintentional shootings each year
• 82 shooting deaths per day
• 70,000 people injured each year
• One in three people in the U.S. know someone who
  has been shot.
• The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher
  than the combined rates of 22 countries that are
  our peers in wealth and population.

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Victims of Gun Violence
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REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE THROUGH LITIGATION

• Hold gun dealers and manufacturers accountable
• Challenge and defeat overbroad and/or
  unconstitutional laws
• Defend sensible gun violence prevention laws

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Holding Gun Dealers AccountableJohnson v.
Bulls Eye Shooter Supply 2003 WL 21639244
(Wash. Super. Ct., June 27, 2003)
Pre-PLCAA case against the worst gun dealer in
U.S., had over 200 missing guns and years of
ATF violations Claimed negligent entrustment and
general negligence against Bulls Eye, the
dealer, and Bushmaster, the gun manufacturer
Conrad Johnson, Last victim of the DC snipers
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• 2.5 million for families
• ATF revoked dealer license
• Bushmaster changed distribution practices
• Dealer out of business

Denise Johnson, Conrads wife
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Shirley v. Glass (Kansas)

• Zeus, 8 yrs. old, was murdered by his estranged
  father Russell Graham.
• Straw purchase case Have you been a good boy?
• Appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court
• Won on all issues establishing gun dealer liable
  for negligent entrustment and negligence per se
• Court held that gun dealers must be held to the
  highest standard of care

Zeus Graham, 8, was shot and killed by his father
with a straw-purchase rifle.
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TIP OF THE ICEBERG

• Message to Gun Dealers
• PROFIT OVER PEOPLE CIVIL LIABILITY
• Legal precedent that gun sellers will be
• held accountable for their misconduct.
• Dont Lie for the Other Guy
• Gun dealer quote I read about your lawsuit and
  changed my business practice.

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Reject Extremism in Gun Laws
Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast
doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the
possession of firearms by felons and the mentally
ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms
in sensitive places such as schools and
government buildings, or laws imposing conditions
and qualifications on the commercial sale of
arms. Justice Scalia (emphasis added)
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Brady Center v. City of Nelson, Georgia

• First Amendment Compelled speech, objectors must
  involuntarily and publicly declare they fall in
  one of the exempt categories
• Second Amendment Violates the right to
  self-defense keeping ones home safe by not
  bringing in a gun

• Ordinance requiring every Head of Household
  within the City limits to maintain a working
  firearm and ammunition.
• Allowed exemptions
• Mental infirmity
• Pauper
• Religious or conscientious objector

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Docs v. Glocks

• Florida law passed in 2011 (backed by the NRA)
  preventing doctors from asking patients about gun
  ownership, or risk losing license
• Challenged by numerous medical organizations on
  1st and 14th Amendment grounds

• Permanently blocked by federal District Court in
  September 2011
• Appealed to 11th Circuit in July 2012, argued by
  LSA Leadership Council Firm Ropes Gray

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Defending Reasonable Gun Laws

• Various states have passed new gun violence
  prevention legislation since the horrific events
  in Newtown, CT in December 2012, including
• Connecticut
• New York
• Colorado
• Maryland
• Delaware

Gun rights groups in each state are challenging
the new laws, which include assault weapon and
high capacity magazine bans, on Second Amendment
grounds. LSA is working to protect these new
common-sense provisions.
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• Supporting the development of reasonable Second
  Amendment law through amicus work
• 1st Circuit Hightower v. Boston
• 2nd Circuit Kachalsky v. Cacace
• 3rd Circuit Drake v. Filko
• 4th Circuit Woollard v. Sheridan
• NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT
• TO CONCEALED CARRY

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GET INVOLVED WWW.LAWYERSFORASAFERAMERICA.ORG Lead
ership Council Firms