Gun Makers Not Liable for Shootings
CNSNews.com
Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2001
In a blow to gun-control advocates, California's Supreme Court Monday ruled that firearms manufacturers cannot be held legally responsible for the criminal use of their weapons.
The court ruled that Miami-based Navegar Inc. may not be sued for a 1993 attack in which a disgruntled businessman, Gian Luigi Ferri, used a Navegar-made TEC-DC9 military assault pistol to kill nine people, including himself, in a San Francisco office building.
"In reaching this conclusion, we are not insensitive to the terrible tragedy that occurred on July 1, 1993, or the devastating effect of Ferri's rampage on his victims and their loved ones," said the court's majority opinion, written by Justice Ming Chin. "But ... the Legislature has set California's public policy regarding a gun manufacturer's liability under these circumstances. Given that public policy, plaintiffs may not proceed with their negligence claim."
Victims and relatives of those killed in the shootings brought the suit against Navegar in 1994. They claimed that the company marketed guns to appeal to criminals.
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