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Spitzer Reloads: Files Appeal in Gun Suit
Josey1
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Spitzer Reloads: Files Appeal in Gun Suit
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May 10, 2002 3:18 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (AP) -- State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer took the highly unusual step on Friday of making his own arguments before an appeals panel in an effort to have a case against gun makers reinstated.
"The single question which the court must answer is whether the state is entitled to discovery to overcome the burdens that the people have to meet at trial," Spitzer told a five-judge state appellate panel in Manhattan.
In August 2001, acting State Supreme Court Justice Louis York dismissed the case, finding insufficient evidence to support Spitzer's claims that nine gun manufacturers, 12 wholesalers and three importers violated the state's public-nuisance law by knowingly contributing to a "flood of illegal guns" in New York that results in injuries or death.
Spitzer said the case, filed in 2000, was dismissed before the suit reached the discovery phase, when his office expected to uncover evidence supporting the claims.
Including Friday, New York state attorneys general have made their own oral arguments in court on just three occasions over the past 23 years, according to Spitzer's office.
The state has argued that gun manufacturers know that a significant portion of their guns end up being used in crime, "but turn a blind eye so as to increase their profits, at the cost of many human lives and much human suffering."
York disagreed, writing: "It is obvious that the parties most directly responsible for the unlawful use of handguns are the individuals who unlawfully use them."
On Friday, Spitzer stressed that the suit does not seek compensatory damages, but rather seeks changes in the sale of guns.
He said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms notifies gun manufacturers when weapons they produce are involved in crimes, meaning they are already receiving information about how their weapons, though not necessarily manufactured or sold in other states, are being used in New York.
"Manufacturers and wholesalers are in a unique position to curtail the flow of guns," Spitzer said. The complaint calls for the industry to create and adopt a code of conduct and change certain practices in selling guns.
Among the manufacturers named in Spitzer's suit were Glock, Beretta U.S.A., Colt's Manufacturing Co., Taurus, Ruger & Co. and Intratec.
The defendants have contended that they "do not owe a duty to members of the public to protect them from the criminal acquisition and misuse of their handguns," according to their court papers. Also, the gun manufacturers said they are already subject to comprehensive laws and any regulatory changes should be imposed legislatively.
There is no timetable for the appellate panel to issue its decision.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://www.firearmnews.com/
"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
Email This Story
Print This Story
May 10, 2002 3:18 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (AP) -- State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer took the highly unusual step on Friday of making his own arguments before an appeals panel in an effort to have a case against gun makers reinstated.
"The single question which the court must answer is whether the state is entitled to discovery to overcome the burdens that the people have to meet at trial," Spitzer told a five-judge state appellate panel in Manhattan.
In August 2001, acting State Supreme Court Justice Louis York dismissed the case, finding insufficient evidence to support Spitzer's claims that nine gun manufacturers, 12 wholesalers and three importers violated the state's public-nuisance law by knowingly contributing to a "flood of illegal guns" in New York that results in injuries or death.
Spitzer said the case, filed in 2000, was dismissed before the suit reached the discovery phase, when his office expected to uncover evidence supporting the claims.
Including Friday, New York state attorneys general have made their own oral arguments in court on just three occasions over the past 23 years, according to Spitzer's office.
The state has argued that gun manufacturers know that a significant portion of their guns end up being used in crime, "but turn a blind eye so as to increase their profits, at the cost of many human lives and much human suffering."
York disagreed, writing: "It is obvious that the parties most directly responsible for the unlawful use of handguns are the individuals who unlawfully use them."
On Friday, Spitzer stressed that the suit does not seek compensatory damages, but rather seeks changes in the sale of guns.
He said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms notifies gun manufacturers when weapons they produce are involved in crimes, meaning they are already receiving information about how their weapons, though not necessarily manufactured or sold in other states, are being used in New York.
"Manufacturers and wholesalers are in a unique position to curtail the flow of guns," Spitzer said. The complaint calls for the industry to create and adopt a code of conduct and change certain practices in selling guns.
Among the manufacturers named in Spitzer's suit were Glock, Beretta U.S.A., Colt's Manufacturing Co., Taurus, Ruger & Co. and Intratec.
The defendants have contended that they "do not owe a duty to members of the public to protect them from the criminal acquisition and misuse of their handguns," according to their court papers. Also, the gun manufacturers said they are already subject to comprehensive laws and any regulatory changes should be imposed legislatively.
There is no timetable for the appellate panel to issue its decision.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://www.firearmnews.com/
"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
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