They’re “beginning to look like a fiasco”, opines David Hardy (Aug. 31):
A second dealer has filed a counter-suit in his home state, a NY dealer they charged with criminal offenses had to be let off with disorderly conduct (in most states, about a minor a misdemeanor as they have), they seized guns from that dealer but had to return them, the city has settled with two on terms that have them audited by a special master (whom the city has to pay)… oh, and a third dealer now says he’s going to sue.
More details: Bradley Hope, “Gun Dealer Hits Bloomberg on Sting Operation”, New York Sun, Aug. 31.
4 Comments
“beginning”?!?
if these gun companies took any responsibility for the forseeable harm their products do and the obvious knowledge of straw purchases, resale and lack of background checks at gun shows, these suits would not be needed. until they start getting hit like tobacco companies, they will be reckless in their actions. oh, i am a gun owner and fully support our right to bear arms.
gould,
At what point is the manufacturer of a product no longer responsible for it’s use? I don’t see Bloomberg filing lawsuits against knife manufacturers. How many people are cut or stabbed each year in New York City?
A gun is just a tool, no more no less. It is how the tool is used, that is the problem. Any tool can be misused. If the dealers are violating the law that is the dealer’s problem, not the manufacturer. Should we sue Ford when someone runs a person over during an arguement? How about the dealer who sold the car? I’ve always wondered why everybody picks on the gun manufacturers? With out ammunition a gun is just a paperweight. I can fire a bullet without a gun, but I can’t fire a gun without a bullet.
From the NY Sun article:
“Two of the 15 gun dealers targeted by the mayor’s sting operations have, however, accepted settlement deals with the city that mandate a special monitor audit their stores for the next three years, which was one of the goals the mayor pointed to when he announced the federal lawsuits.
The mayor’s criminal justice coordinator, John Feinblatt, said in a statement: “These historic settlements are unprecedented. We expect that the others will follow the example of the two Georgia dealers, who willingly came to the table to negotiate a fair settlement that keeps them in business, keeps illegal guns off the street, and keeps them on the right side of the law.””
Second amendment rights aside, this passage from the article makes the mayor’s gun policy look like just a proxy for getting into gun shops and monitoring sales and customers. Conduct a sting operation, threaten the shop owner with stringent penalties, and then make nice and settle by having the owner agree to let the police to monitor his business? Hmm.