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The city of Cincinnati earns the dubious distinction of being the first city to fail in a frivolous lawsuit against firearm manufacturers, distributors and trade associations. The court firmly held that the lawsuit was both vague and unsupported by legal precedent.
"I predict that this will only be the first in a series of dismissals against these reckless lawsuits against legal firearm companies selling a lawful product to licensed dealers in interstate commerce," said Alan Gottlieb, Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. “Now that the first domino has fallen, it is time to take the offensive and sue the cities and other culpable organizations for violation of civil rights, conspiracy and other unconstitutional acts.
The Second Amendment Foundation will be filing this lawsuit within the next thirty days against the cities and counties suing gun makers. This damage action suit will allege violation of the individual’s right to keep and bear arms, conspiracy, usurping legislative powers into the judicial branch, and interference with legal interstate commerce. The Cincinnati dismissal is only the most recent boost to this lawsuit.
"The cities and counties, don’t expect to win these frivolous cases, but they do intend to bankrupt a legal industry by forcing them to expend all their monies in the courts," stated Gottlieb. "We will have no trouble proving damages, since one gun maker is in bankruptcy and now Colt has sent out a letter indicating that they are no longer producing the vast majority of their handgun line and raised prices on others."
The Colt memo, faxed to distributors and now posted on the Internet, read, "We have to face the harsh reality of the significant impact which our litigation defense costs are having on our ability to operate competitively in the marketplace." The memo continued, “Due to the continued escalation of our litigation costs the prices of these products will be increased 6%, effective immediately."
"The Colt memo is the smoking gun proving that the lawsuits are designed to bankrupt a legal industry," proclaimed Gottlieb. "The goal is to end gun ownership by ending the production of new firearms, thus freezing the supply in circulation.^
The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation^s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the gun control debate and its consequences. SAF previously has funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles, New Haven, CT, and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners. Current projects include a damage action lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers, an amicus brief in support of the Emerson case holding that the Second Amendment is an individual right and a lawsuit against the Clinton gun and magazine ban.
Uploaded: 11/7/1999
Uploaded: 11/7/1999