FEATURE STORIES

Indiana Supreme Court Nullifies Ruling That Gun Owners Need Not Keep Guns Away From Felons
February 21, 2002

The Indiana Supreme Court has vacated a dangerous ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals that held that gun owners do not have to exercise ordinary care to keep their guns away from felons. In Estate of Heck v. Stoffer, the parents of a drug-addicted felon gave their son free access to their home where they kept their unlocked handgun. One day after the son failed to appear at his sentencing hearing, he obtained his parents' gun and used it to shoot and kill a sheriff's deputy. The Legal Action Project filed an amicus brief with the Indiana Supreme Court, urging it to hold that the felon's parents had a duty store their gun to prevent persons likely to misuse it from gaining access to it. The National Rifle Association filed a brief with the Court arguing that gun owners should be permitted to store their guns how they see fit, even if this results in police officers being killed by felons given free access to unlocked guns. Having vacated the lower court ruling, the Court will hear arguments in this case and issue its own ruling this spring.

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California Court Allows Dix v. Beretta Case to Proceed to Trial
February 6, 2002

In a victory for the family of fifteen-year-old gun violence victim Kenzo Dix, a California appeals court has rebuffed gun manufacturer Beretta's attempt to block the case of Dix v. Beretta from proceeding to trial. The court's latest ruling follows a prior ruling in this case sanctioning Beretta for discovery abuses. The Legal Action Project represents the parents of Kenzo Dix, who was accidentally shot and killed by a friend who mistakenly thought that a Beretta pistol was unloaded. In the original trial in this case, the court found that a belligerent juror had improperly prejudged the case and disrupted jury deliberations, requiring a new trial. In this recent ruling, a California appeals court agreed that a new trial is required, denying Beretta's attempt to prevent a new trial. The case will now proceed to trial on the issue of whether Beretta's gun was defectively designed because it failed to prevent unauthorized users from firing the gun.

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