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New Mexico Supreme Court Clears Way for Trial
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
New Mexico Supreme Court Ruling A Victory for Gun Safety Litigation 10/23/01New Mexico Supreme Court Ruling A Victory for Gun Safety Litigation, Clears Way for TrialThe New Mexico Supreme Court has denied review of a July 27 decision by the New Mexico Court of Appeals, which ruled that Bryco Arms, a major handgun maker located in Southern California, and B.L. Jennings, Inc., its Nevada distributor, each have a duty to make the handguns they make and sell safe from foreseeable misuse by minors. The October 19 Supreme Court ruling clears the way for the case to go to trial."This case is now the strongest gun safety appellate decision in the nation," said Brian J. Siebel, Senior Attorney of the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which represents plaintiffs in the case. "Far too many teenagers and children are injured or killed in tragic shootings involving guns they believe to be unloaded. This ruling gives victims a fighting chance to force widespread gun-safety improvements."The Supreme Court ruling upholds the Appeals Court decision, the first such appellate ruling in New Mexico, that guns without feasible safety features can be unreasonably dangerous and therefore defective. The case was brought on behalf of 14-year-old Sean Smith, who was unintentionally shot and injured by one of his friends after the friend was handed a Bryco J-22 pistol with the ammunition magazine removed. The friend mistakenly believed the pistol was unloaded because he could not see a round hidden in its chamber, and pulled the trigger. The gun lacked vital safety features, including a magazine-disconnect safety, a chamber load indicator, or warnings printed on the gun, that would have prevented the shooting.In reversing a lower court's dismissal of the case, the Court of Appeals of New Mexico found in July that the claims against the gun's manufacturer are "well within existing New Mexico products liability and negligence law." For about 30 cents per gun, a magazine disconnect safety and chamber load indicator could have been included in the J-22, the court said.The Legal Action Project has pioneered innovative legal theories of liability against gun manufacturers and sellers since 1989. In addition to representing individual victims of gun violence, the Project is representing or advising 24 of the 32 cities and counties that have filed lawsuits against the gun industry. The intent of these lawsuits is to compel the gun industry to change its irresponsible business practices that contribute to the shameful level of gun violence in this country. http://www.jointogether.org/gv/wire/press_releases/reader.jtml?Object_ID=546212