To: ALL MEDIA
For Immediate Release

July 21, 2003

Contact: Dave Bean
Matt Masterson
518-434-3582

Firearms Industry Wins Major Victory
As Judge Dismisses NAACP Case

NEWTOWN, Conn. - In a significant victory for the firearms industry, Brooklyn, New York Federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein today dismissed the NAACP’s lawsuit against firearms manufacturers and distributors. The ruling brings to an end yet another expensive and unfounded court action against the gun industry.

In May, an advisory jury refused to find a single defendant’s lawful business practices had created a public nuisance in New York or harmed the NAACP or its New York members. “The advisory jury understood that federally licensed manufacturers and distributors of firearms are not responsible for the criminal misuse of their products," said Lawrence G. Keane, vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry’s trade association.
This decision is the latest defeat for anti-gun interest groups attempting to circumvent the legislative process and use the courtroom to impose changes to gun laws that federal and state legislators have roundly rejected.

Just a month ago, a New York appellate court upheld the August, 2001 dismissal of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s lawsuit against gun makers. The appellate court said manufacturers of lawful and non-defective products cannot be sued for allegedly creating a “public nuisance” when criminals misuse firearms. The appellate court acknowledged what the firearms industry has maintained all along-“that courts are the least suited, least equipped, and thus the least appropriate branch of government to regulate and micro-manage the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of handguns.”
Despite this recent appellate ruling and the conclusion of the jury in the NAACP case, Weinstein, a well-known activist judge, in his lengthy decision denigrates gun makers. “While we are pleased this junk lawsuit has been dismissed, we are disappointed, but not surprised, by some of Judge Weinstein’s rhetoric that both ignored both New York law and the jury’s findings,” said Keane.

Today’s decision underscores the urgent need for Congress to pass common-sense legal reform to stop these kinds of “junk” lawsuits that try to bankrupt an entire industry and improperly blame law-abiding manufacturers for the actions of criminals. “Our industry should never have been forced to spend an estimated $10 million to defend itself against the NAACP’s baseless lawsuit,” said Keane.

“Congress must act to stop these harassing lawsuits and restore integrity to our nation’s courts,” said Keane. “The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act is the vehicle for the reform.”

The House of Representatives overwhelming passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and there are 54 co-sponsors for the Senate version of the bill. The White House has said President Bush would sign the legislation. Over thirty states have already enacted similar laws.

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