NY:Some challenge state's case on gun wholesalers

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Some challenge state's case on gun wholesalers New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer wants the gun industry to change its ways. A suit he filed against gun manufacturers and wholesalers in June 2000 was dismissed last year by a New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Spitzer plans to appeal the decision by the month's end, and his public nuisance suit may recently have gained some pull. An Illinois appeals court two weeks ago ruled the families of four slain Chicago police officers and four others killed by gang bullets can file civil suits against the manufacturers and distributors of the guns used in those crimes on grounds of public nuisance. "This is a significant victory. Illegal guns do constitute a public nuisance. There are steps that the industry can take to prevent crimes that they are not doing," said Andy Pelosi, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, a New York City-based lobbying group. Paul Larrabee, a spokesman for Spitzer's office, admitted the New York case has a different basis than the Illinois case. "We're not looking for any financial consideration. We're trying to get the industry to modify its code of conduct. There are a number of issues that the attorney general is concerned about," Larrabee said. Spitzer's suit is seeking reforms by the gun industry, including imposing a "one gun per customer per day" limit on retail sales. It also seeks the ability to track sales to determine the manufacturers and dealers of guns that are most used in crimes. He alleges the gun industry has created an influx of firearms into the state and markets guns so that they are more likely to end up in high crime areas. "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms does inspections and they trace weapons that have been recovered from crimes. The manufacturers are getting feedback about where their guns are being used but they're not doing anything about it. So hopefully this decision will make them more responsible," Pelosi said. About 95,000 Americans were injured by guns in 1998, according to a 2001 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one-third of those injuries resulted in death, and CDC officials said guns are the second-leading cause of injury-related deaths, after traffic accidents. But Tom Witzel, manager of Hessleson's sporting goods store in Elmira Heights, said gun retailers are already doing all they can. Since the enactment of the 1993 Handgun Violence Protection Act, commonly called the Brady Bill, firearms dealers are required to perform background checks on potential customers. Witzel said anyone who buys a shotgun or rifle in New York state must fill out a 4473 form for a background check. The dealer will then call the FBI with the purchaser's information for approval to sell. "We could get instant authorization if the person has a clean record. Or it could take up to three days, and the person will have to come back to buy the gun. Or they could be denied, if they're a convicted felon or there's some other mark against them," Witzel said. He said New York state has tougher laws than some other states, but even though dealers are careful about who purchases their goods, they have little control about what happens to the products after they leave the store. "Every gun is registered into a logbook, but once the buyer takes it out of our shop, they could sell it to someone else or it could get stolen or whatever and we wouldn't know about that. There's no reason that we should be responsible for that," Witzel said. Olean attorney Mark Williams of Williams and Associates, a law firm handling product liability cases, said some of the grounds of Spitzer's case might be questionable. He admitted courts often look to previous court decisions for backing, but in this highly pro-gun rights and hunting area, he is not sure how many shooting victims would even want to file suits against the gun industry. "Automobiles can be dangerous. There are a lot of things that can be dangerous instruments if they are put in the hands of the wrong person. Is the manufacturer putting guns in the wrong hands? That's going to be tough to prove," said Williams, who is also a Cattaraugus County legislator. "It will be a long time before these suits are successfully prosecuted." But Steuben County Attorney Frederick Ahrens said new laws may come about sooner than people think. He said he was initially skeptical of the state's lawsuit against the tobacco industry and was surprised that an industry as wealthy as tobacco would agree to a settlement. The gun industry could find themselves in a similar situation, Ahrens said. "You never know how things are going to shake out in the end, and cost of litigation is often a deciding factor," he said. Steuben County District Attorney John Tunney agreed, saying he suspects attorneys and the victims are looking to tap into bigger resources. "That's where the deep pocket is. The shooter doesn't have the assets that the manufacturers have," he said. Corning Police Lt. Jeffrey Spaulding said he could not comment on how such a ruling would affect area police officers, but said he personally thought the "crack-down" on gun manufacturers was "pretty harsh." Kenny Marvin, vice president of the Corning Fish and Game Club, said the idea of the suit does not even make sense to him. "It's like if you have a car accident and instead of suing the other driver, you sue General Motors for making a car that goes too fast or the salesman for not checking how fast you drive. It's not even logical," Marvin said. Witzel said a similar case could be made against any number of products, including baseball bats and hockey sticks, that have criminal potential. Richard Hartman, co-owner of Elmira Arms Co. Inc., said many people are also injured and die in drunk driving accidents and plane crashes, but there are no suits against alcohol manufacturers or the airline industry. "But guns are an easy target. About 99.5 percent of gun owners use their guns the proper way, but the few idiots out there give them a bad rap," Witzel said. If this legislation comes to New York, Hartman said there is little chance crime will decrease simply because of this measure. "The burden of this legislation will be placed on the backs of law-abiding citizens, who contribute to zero percent of misuse. Gun crimes are terrible, it terrible that people get shot with guns, but criminals don't pay attention to the laws anyway," he said. Fran Avagliano, who teaches Corning-Painted Post East High School's criminal justice class, agreed that additional laws will not prevent gun crimes and accidents, which he said should be a higher priority than deterring gun sales. "There are thousands of warnings and labels out there," he said. "We have to take theresponsibility to read them and take care of ourselves."