This is Why I Think The Brady Bunch Are Nuts

[rushmc 23]

MANUFACTURER NOT TO BLAME
FOR ACTS OF CRIMINAL

The lawsuit filed against the manufacturer of a firearm used by a felon to shoot two law enforcement officers in New Jersey was dismissed yesterday by Kanawha County Circuit Judge Irene Berger in West Virginia. That's the last place a retail store legally sold the firearm, following a mandatory criminal background check.

Former Orange, New Jersey, police officers Dave Lemongello and Kenneth McGuire are not entitled to damages from Southport, Connecticut-based Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., Judge Berger ruled. Berger said it would require "a real stretch" to make the gun maker responsible because the gun had originally been sold to an Ohio wholesaler. By the time it got to the pawnshop that last sold it, it had lawfully changed hands four times.

“The shooting of these two brave police officers by a brazen criminal is deplorable and obviously regrettable. It also might have been prevented by the state of New Jersey. Our judicial system should be used to keep criminals behind bars; not used to blame manufacturers when criminals misuse their products. Why were the illegal firearms trafficker, a convicted drug felon, and the career criminal who pulled the trigger out of prison in the first place?” questioned Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry’s trade association. “Enforce the law and keep criminals behind bars, don’t scapegoat manufacturers,” said Keane.

Lawyers from the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence Legal Action Project represented the police officers. They argued that Sturm, Ruger was to blame for the 2001 criminal shooting even though Sturm, Ruger had two years earlier (1999) lawfully sold the firearm to a federally licensed Ohio distributor, which in turn sold it to a federally licensed West Virginia dealer. The dealer then lawfully sold the firearm to an ordained Baptist minister, who passed a federally mandated criminal background check of FBI records. The minister later gave the firearm to gun collector friend, who was legally permitted to own the firearm. That individual subsequently pawned the firearm at a West Virginia pawnshop. The pawnshop, following a criminal background check, sold the used firearm to a woman able to pass the federal background check. But she broke the law by making the illegal 'straw purchase' on behalf of James Gray, a convicted drug felon from New Jersey . Gray illegally trafficked the firearm over state lines into New Jersey where it unlawfully traded hands in the criminal underground and ultimately ended up in the hands of Shuntez Everett, a career criminal. Everett used the firearm to shoot the police officers and perished in the gunfight with them. Gray, the convicted drug felon who trafficked the gun, and the woman who illegally bought it for him, were prosecuted and served time for their offenses.

Leqal Stuff Here
http://www.nssf.org/share/legal/docs/LemongelloRuger-MtnSummJ.pdf

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[MC208B 0]

Terrific, a judge with some common sense.

Whatever happened to those lawsuits from the cities that were suing gun manufacturers?

[rushmc 23]

Quote

Terrific, a judge with some common sense.

Whatever happened to those lawsuits from the cities that were suing gun manufacturers?

I believe all, save maybe one, have all been dismissed. There may be a few appeals out there but not very many.

Hummm, common sense judges.....now there is a novel idea

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[skydiver30960 0]

Quote

Terrific, a judge with some common sense.

Amen.

Hey, not to hijack but it is an honest (and related) question. I was somewhat interested by the fact that it was two police officers that were bringing the case to trial. My question for the police officers (or friends and family thereof) is: In general, are police officers pro- or anti- gun control?

My first thought would be that they would be very pro- gun control, because they would still be legally permitted to carry while the law would (supposedly) reduce the number of guns out there that could be used against them. And don't even THINK about goin' down the "if guns were outlawed..." road because that's not what my question is about.

BUT, then on the other hand, I got to thinking about how many police officers come from military backgrounds, and ALSO got to thinking about how many people who are comfortable with guns (through training or proper exposure to them at a young age) tend to be more anti- gun control.

So which is it, guys? Just wondering...

Thanks and sorry for the hijack;

Elvisio "too early to be PWing" Rodriguez

[Kennedy 0]

My experience, backed up by several polls, is that most street cops tend to support gun rights to some extent, while most chiefs, sheriffs, and bureaucrats/administrators tend to favor gun control.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Jimbo 0]

It's not difficult to figure out which are elected officials, is it?

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[Kennedy 0]

political apopintees

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

In general, are police officers pro- or anti- gun control?

What Kennedy said. Once they rise high enough in rank, they become more politicians than cops, and then they turn anti-gun.

I don't know how current the following web links are, but this is something I put together on this question once, and saved.

THE POLICE, ON GUNS

From the 1993 Southern States Police Benevolent Association survey 

of over 10,000 members comes:


96%  support firearms ownership for self-protection

87%  felt that waiting periods would only affect law-abiding

citizens

1%  choose guns as the most pressing cause of crime (given

20 choices)


The April 1993 informal survey of a sampling of the readers of "Police"

magazine showed:


85%  did not support an "Assault Weapons" ban

90%  feel gun ownership by civilians has not negatively affected

their jobs

85%  believe citizen's gun ownership increases public safety

77%  did not support the "Brady Bill" waiting periods and 

background checks


From the Police Marksman Association survey from September/October and

November/December 1994, comes:


95%  of officers do not like the ban on large-capacity magazines

92%  do not support the so-called "Assault Weapon" Ban

93%  disagree with the "Brady Bill"


The July/August 1991 edition of Law Enforcement Technology magazine,

after sending a survey to its 25,000 subscribers, determined that:


79%  were against a ban on "Assault Weapons"

85%  feel that gun control does not lessen crime

78%  believe that criminals will always be able to obtain

guns irrespective of gun control legislation


A National Association of Chiefs of Police poll, released in May, 1996:


85% of police chiefs across America believe that the Brady

Act has not stopped criminals from obtaining handguns from illegal

sources.


The Informant, a publication of the San Diego Police Officers

Association, published the results  of their gun control survey.

The results:


82.1% of respondents do NOT favor an "assault weapons" ban,

82.2% do NOT support a limit on magazine capacity,

84.9% SUPPORT law-abiding citizens' right to carry concealed 

firearms,

87.8% feel armed citizens are NOT a threat to peace officers,

94.2% concede gun control laws HAVEN'T REDUCED violent crime,

92.1% SUPPORT an instant background check,

87.1% believe guns owned by private citizens INCREASES public 

safety,

99.2% believe in streamlining the criminal justice system

92.1% said more gun laws will NOT decrease violent crime,

98.5% DON'T SUPPORT gun buy backs, and

95.6% believe the criminal use of a gun should result in mandatory

sentences with no plea bargaining.


Conservative News Service, 12 July, 1999:


"According to a recent survey of police chiefs and sheriffs across

the country, the majority said they do not believe 'gun shows' are

a major source for sales of illegal firearms to criminals. Instead

the police officers said the simple enforcement of current gun 

laws will reduce crime. 


'There are some 20,000 gun control laws on the books; adding 

another one or adding another hundred won't change it,' Mort 

Feldman, Executive Vice President of the National Association of 

Chiefs of Police, told CNSNews.com. 'What will change it is strict

enforcement.'


Ninety-three percent responded that law-abiding citizens should be

able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense, while 66

percent feel citizens should not be limited to a one gun per month

purchase."


The survey questions were conducted among 16,000 Chiefs of Police 

and Sheriffs across the United States.

http://www.conservativenews.org/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\

CUL19990712a.html


12th Annual National Police Survey


1999 SURVEY OF ALL LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN 

THE UNITED STATES


The following survey questions were posed in the last 60 days by 

mail of 16,000 Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs that was recently 

completed. It represents a cross section of professional officers 

involving every state with a 10% response.  This survey was 

conducted for the 12th consecutive year by the National Association

of Chiefs of Police, Washington, D.C.  


1. Do you believe any law-abiding citizen should be able to purchase a

firearm for sport or self-defense?  

Yes 92.7% ... No 06.8%  


2. Within the past year, has your agency been called upon to 

arrest anyone who has made a false statement on an pplication 

to purchase a firearm?  

Yes 06.2% ... No 93.3%  


3. Do you believe anyone (such as a convicted felon) in violation of 

state or federal firearm possession laws should be prosecuted by 

the U.S. Attorney and, if convicted, receive a maximum prison term?  

Yes 87.7% ... No 11.2%  


4. Do you believe law-abiding citizens should be limited to purchase 

of no    more than one firearm per month?  

Yes 32.7% ... No 65.8%  


5. Do you believe local "gun shows" are a major source for sales of 

illegal firearms to criminals?  

Yes 40.7% ... No 55.8%  


6. Do you believe criminals currently are able to obtain virtually any

type of firearm by illegal means?  

Yes 97.9% ... No 01.8%  


http://gunownersca.com/summer99.htm#1