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Boston:City gun suit moving to next phase
Josey1
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City gun suit moving to next phaseBy Raja Mishra, Globe Staff, 1/19/2002oston's $100 million lawsuit against the gun industry this week became the first such case in the nation to emerge from the document discovery phase, setting the stage this fall for an unprecedented public examination of the US commercial firearms market. On Tuesday, city lawyers finished collecting thousands of internal industry documents, as well as sworn statements from gun company executives, broadly describing the manufacture, marketing, and national distribution of guns ranging from simple pistols to rapid-fire assault weapons.The suit, which seeks to hold the industry responsible for the public health costs of gun violence, has prompted comparisons to the watershed 1994 Mississippi lawsuit that ended the tobacco industry's long run of courtroom triumphs. That case produced a torrent of controversial internal documents, leading to a $246 billion settlement and sweeping cigarette regulation.The city's case against gun makers is one of 31 similar municipal cases filed around the nation in recent years. Nine were dismissed outright by judges. Most of the rest remain mired in legal complications.Although the gun industry documents collected by the city remain sealed by judicial order, city lawyers said the papers detail the marketing of guns and the relationship between gun makers and dealers, painting a picture of a negligent and callous industry.''They provided very little in the way of training dealers to spot people trying to illegally buy guns,'' said John Townsend, lead counsel for the Boston Public Health Commission, which filed the lawsuit with the encouragement of Mayor Thomas M. Menino.Gun industry lawyers said the documents and depositions added little to the city's case.''We're encouraged by what discovery has shown to this point. It demonstrates the truth about the industry - that it's a responsible industry and that the plaintiffs have no case,'' said Peter M. Durney, one of the lead lawyers for the 31 gun makers named in the lawsuit.The city's central contention is that the gun industry produces a dangerous public nuisance, akin to pollution, that should be regulated by local authorities. It also argues that gun makers negligently ignored signs that some dealerships they contracted with repeatedly made illegal gun sales, placing firearms in the hands of violent criminals.Other allegations include: failure to make safer guns; failure to adequately warn consumers about the risks of gun use; unjust profits at the expense of the public; and negligent marketing of guns. City lawyers seek $100 million to compensate for gun-related costs to Boston police, emergency services, fire departments, schools, and hospitals.The suit names 31 gunmakers, including Smith & Wesson, Harrington & Richardson Corp., and Savage Arms, all based in Massachusetts; seven Connecticut firms, and one New Hampshire company.A trial is scheduled for Sept. 24 before Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle. In July 2000, Hinkle rejected the industry's request to dismiss the case, initiating the document-collecting phase that ended Tuesday.The 18-month process was contentious and complex, said city lawyers, involving negotiation with 31 companies that reacted with varying levels of hostility.''We weren't pleased with all the [document] production,'' said Townsend, the city's lawyer.Townsend said his legal team continues to comb through thousands of the documents, which include internal memos, written discussions of marketing strategy, and company-made gun education materials.Several gun industry CEOs and top-ranking officials were also questioned at length under oath, said city lawyers.Durney said of the process: ''We're pleased that it's been orderly thus far. And we expect that that orderly process will continue.''The industry plans to file motions asking the judge to dismiss the case because the evidence produced thus far does not prove the city's contentions. The first such motion was filed last Friday by SigArms Inc., an Exeter, N.H.-based gunmaker.Nine other municipal cases against gunmakers, including one in Bridgeport, Conn., were dismissed before any evidence was produced. Twenty-two other cases are active in courts around the country but most remain in initial stages. The Boston lawsuit, therefore, will play a central role in the fate of the gun industry, said gun control advocates.''We've said all along that, if we could get to discovery, as Boston has, we could win,'' said Joshua Horwitz, executive director for the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and a lawyer in a number of the other gun lawsuits.Local health officials are preparing for a heated legal and public relations war in the months to come.''This is a monumental threshold,'' said John M. Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission.This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 1/19/2002. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/019/metro/City_gun_suit_moving_to_next_phase+.shtml
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