Appeals Court Tosses Out NYC Lawsuit Against Gun Industry
A federal appeals court Wednesday tossed out New York City's lawsuit accusing the gun industry of selling firearms with the knowledge they can be diverted into illegal markets.
Lawrence G. Keane, a lawyer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade association, called the ruling "very gratifying to members of the firearms industry."
Trying to hold gunmakers responsible for firearms that end up so-called "illegal markets" (as the Bad Guys refer to gun shows) and for private party sales, that are later used by criminals is like trying to hold the Ford Motor Company responsible for the actions of a driver who buys a Ford from a used car lot or from a classified ad and then goes out, gets drunk, and hits someone with his car.
ANYTHING can be diverted into an illegal market. Shipments of cigarettes get hijacked and sold to anyone willing to take the risk of selling to the public without a tax stamp on each pack. Liquor, ditto. We've all heard the stories about folks buying TVs or computers or stereo equipment "that just fell off the truck." Firearms are no different. There are actually more controls and inspections of those who make and sell guns, from the distributors and wholesalers down to the local gun shops, and in any other industry. What really frost the cookies of jackasses like Bloomberg and Guiliani is that they have no control over private-party sales, and therefore can't tax them or regulate them. The fact that criminals rarely obtain guns from gun shows and private-party sales is beside the point.
I'm sure we haven't seen the last of this, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act notwithstanding. Antigunners don't like laws that tell them they can't pursue their goal of disarming the American people. They'll just try to get the law changed or negated, as they always do. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. The price of the right to keep and bear arms is eternal vigilance on the part of law-abiding gun owners.
