|
|
FEATURE STORIES Jersey City Becomes 33rd Local Government to Sue Gun Industry On March 28, 2002, Jersey City became the 33rd local government in the nation to sue the gun industry. With the Legal Action Project as co-counsel, Jersey City filed a lawsuit against numerous gun manufacturers and dealers for irresponsible business practices that contribute to Jersey City's high level of gun violence. Lawsuits for 19 local jurisdictions have survived industry efforts at dismissal; other cases have not been decided or are on appeal. The complaint charges that the gun industry has created a public nuisance by failing to prevent their handguns from flowing into the illegitimate market and into the hands of criminals and other prohibited purchasers. Urban communities are plagued by a huge pool of illegal guns that are readily available to criminals and juveniles. Furthermore, the majority of guns traced to crime originate from a relatively few gun dealers, who supply gun traffickers through straw purchases, large volume sales and other suspect transactions. The continuing necessity to respond to the public nuisance of illegal guns costs local communities millions of dollars in law enforcement, prosecution, emergency response, and school security.
First Circuit Upholds Massachusetts Law Restricting Large-Capacity Weapons In a victory for common sense gun laws, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a Massachusetts law restricting possession of dangerous large-capacity weapons. The First Circuit's March 25, 2002 ruling called the Gun Owners Action League's claims that the law should be struck down "meritless" and upheld a lower court ruling dismissing the case. The Legal Action Project, joined by police and public health organizations, had filed a brief in support of the law.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence [logo]](http://www.gunlawsuits.org/common-images/bce_logo.gif){kind=logo}
|
|