WASHINGTON -- A Bush-era federal law that protects gun dealers from liability for murders committed with guns from their shops is under attack in an Alaska court, and that has led the Justice Department and gun-control activists to intervene in the case.
At issue is whether a Juneau gun dealer is liable for letting a disheveled homeless felon leave his store with a rifle, which he used to murder a total stranger. The family of the murder victim, Anchorage contractor Simone Kim, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that has made it to the Alaska Supreme Court.
The Kims are challenging the constitutionality of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which effectively protects the gun industry from most lawsuits.
Read the story at the link.
6 comments:
Oh damn... this does NOT bode well!
Just wait...this kind of action will increase with time. Now, here in Florida, our Castle Doctrine (stand your ground) is under fire as predicted. If and when 'his highness' is re-elected it'll be full on war.
Didn't the Feds have to approve the sale, before it was sold?
The gun really wasn't sold, the guy took the gun, leaving $200 on the counter, when the owner's back was turned. The article doesn't say if it was reported as a theft. It should have been. The message I get from reading the article is that the parents of the murdered man felt that the gunshop people should have 'profiled' this guy cause he looked 'homeless'. Gee, I thought we all agreed that profiling was bad. Aside from that, lots of folks up here dress rough and LOOK homeless but aren't.
Anonymous is correct; that's what I took away, also.
I can't imagine them not reporting that theft. If they didn't, they will probably be prosecuted for that and I can see some negligence for them because of that. If they did report the theft, I don't see the case. If someone steals a car from a dealership and uses it to plow through a crowd of people, the dealership would not be liable for that.
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