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CA: Assembly votes to drop gun companies' lawsuit
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Assembly votes to drop gun companies' lawsuit shield
By Steve Lawrence
ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 22, 2002
SACRAMENTO - Saying gun manufacturers shouldn't get special treatment, the Assembly on Thursday narrowly approved a bill that would allow firearm companies to be sued for negligence.
The measure by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, would remove a lawsuit shield enacted in 1983 to protect manufacturers of cheaply made handguns known as Saturday Night Specials.
A 41-35 roll call - the bare majority needed to clear the 80-seat house - returned the bill to the Senate for a vote on Assembly amendments.
The Senate approved an identical bill by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, last week. The two measures were amended to deal with gun liability after they were initially approved by their original houses.
The lawsuit shield was cited by the state Supreme Court last year when it ruled that a gun company couldn't be sued by survivors of a 1993 San Francisco office building rampage that killed eight people.
The survivors claimed Navegar Inc., the manufacturer of two assault weapons used in those killings, was liable for damages because it marketed the guns to appeal to criminals and should have known they would be used in a massacre.
Supporters said Perata's bill would subject guns to the same product liability standards as other items
"If an automobile is defective you can sue. If something is marketed inappropriately you can sue. If something is distributed inappropriately you can sue," said Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara. "You cannot do that for guns. We have product liability except for guns."
But opponents said the bill was designed to discourage gun manufacturing and enrich plaintiffs' attorneys.
"This is nothing more than a smoke screen," said Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa. "This is going after manufacturers that are legitimate, that are legal."
Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, said the bill wouldn't stop gun violence. "If we pass this bill is some nut case not going to do it somehow?" he asked.
But Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, said the bill could make guns safer by holding the threat of lawsuits over manufacturers' heads. "If we make guns more safe in their design, that is a good thing," she said.
Koretz said the bills wouldn't guarantee that violence victims could successfully sue gun companies. "They should be able to have their day in court," he added.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20020822-1828-ca-xgr-gunliability.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Steve Lawrence
ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 22, 2002
SACRAMENTO - Saying gun manufacturers shouldn't get special treatment, the Assembly on Thursday narrowly approved a bill that would allow firearm companies to be sued for negligence.
The measure by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, would remove a lawsuit shield enacted in 1983 to protect manufacturers of cheaply made handguns known as Saturday Night Specials.
A 41-35 roll call - the bare majority needed to clear the 80-seat house - returned the bill to the Senate for a vote on Assembly amendments.
The Senate approved an identical bill by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, last week. The two measures were amended to deal with gun liability after they were initially approved by their original houses.
The lawsuit shield was cited by the state Supreme Court last year when it ruled that a gun company couldn't be sued by survivors of a 1993 San Francisco office building rampage that killed eight people.
The survivors claimed Navegar Inc., the manufacturer of two assault weapons used in those killings, was liable for damages because it marketed the guns to appeal to criminals and should have known they would be used in a massacre.
Supporters said Perata's bill would subject guns to the same product liability standards as other items
"If an automobile is defective you can sue. If something is marketed inappropriately you can sue. If something is distributed inappropriately you can sue," said Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara. "You cannot do that for guns. We have product liability except for guns."
But opponents said the bill was designed to discourage gun manufacturing and enrich plaintiffs' attorneys.
"This is nothing more than a smoke screen," said Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa. "This is going after manufacturers that are legitimate, that are legal."
Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, said the bill wouldn't stop gun violence. "If we pass this bill is some nut case not going to do it somehow?" he asked.
But Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, said the bill could make guns safer by holding the threat of lawsuits over manufacturers' heads. "If we make guns more safe in their design, that is a good thing," she said.
Koretz said the bills wouldn't guarantee that violence victims could successfully sue gun companies. "They should be able to have their day in court," he added.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20020822-1828-ca-xgr-gunliability.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878