Les Jones

Guns > Lawful Commerce in Arms Act

In 2005 Congress passed the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Anti-gun groups had organized lawsuits against U.S. gun makers to attempt to hold them liable for crimes committed using their guns. To my knowledge none of those lawsuits were never successful, but the costs of litigation threatened the future of those companies.

Before the act was passed anti-guns groups tried to derail it by lying about its intent, claiming that the act would make gun makers immune to any liability for defective products. SayUncle has been taking note of this strategy and its dishonesty for years. Now there'a a court case in the news that puts the lie to the strategy. From SayUncle via Jeff Soyer:

A Macon woman who lost a child in an accidental shooting in 2000 was one of three people who won a judgment against a gun manufacturer this week.

Linda Bullard, whose 15-year-old son Billy died in 2000 in their Macon home, is due to receive several hundred thousand dollars, her Macon-based attorney Joel Grist said Friday. The exact amount of the judgment is still to be determined, he said.

This part caught my eye:

Bullard was one of three parties who previously sued RKB Investments, an umbrella partnership set up in Florida by California gun manufacturer Bruce Jennings, whose company, Bryco Arms, manufactured handguns known as “Saturday night specials.”

Handguns "known as Saturday night specials?" When you repeat a meaningless political pejorative as if it's a correct label your tabloid is practicing a type of reporting known as "yellow journalism."