| NRA-ILA FAX ALERT |
| (800) 392-8683 |
Fax: (703) 267-3918 |
groots@nra.org |
| Vol. 7, No.7 |
11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 |
2/18/2000 |
|
NRA SUPPORTS SUIT AGAINST CINCINNATI
|
|
"...Barr's legislation would
prohibit any litigation that seeks to hold manufacturers,
distributors, dealers, and importers who deal in non-defective
firearms responsible for the criminal or negligent misuse of their
products..." |
Rep. Bob Barr |
The National Rifle Association is backing a legal challenge to
Cincinnati's reckless lawsuit against gun makers as a violation of the
state's "good government" laws. The lawsuit was filed in Ohio State
court on Tuesday, Feb. 15, on behalf of Cincinnati Councilman Charlie
Winburn (R).
The suit argues that the city's decision to appeal its
case after last October's ruling to dismiss it with prejudice (see FAX
Alert Vol. 6, No. 39) amounts to a misuse of public funds. A hearing
is set for March 3.
 |
"Taxpayers have every right to challenge their
government when tax dollars are being wasted," said NRA-ILA Executive
Director James Jay Baker. "NRA has always maintained that these
lawsuits are utterly frivolous, and this is abundantly clear in
Cincinnati's case, where the court so thoroughly rejected the city's
suit. The very notion of trying to hold a third party, who operates in
total compliance with the law, responsible for the criminal actions of
another flies in the face of common sense and our system of American
jurisprudence, and the city's decision to appeal its case is
completely irresponsible."
Support of this suit represents just one
more step taken by NRA as it leads the fight to put an end to reckless
lawsuits faced by the firearms industry. In 1999, the NRA successfully
worked to enact legislation in 14 states to prohibit municipalities
from wasting tax dollars through reckless lawsuits against firearm
manufacturers. Baker said NRA continues this legislative effort and
will seek passage in as many as 20 more states in 2000, and will
continue to promote U.S. Representative (and NRA Board Member) Bob
Barr's (R-Ga.) H.R. 1032. Representative Barr's legislation would
prohibit any litigation that seeks to hold manufacturers,
distributors, dealers, and importers who deal in non-defective
firearms responsible for the criminal or negligent misuse of their
products, and is awaiting action by the U.S. House.
=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.
This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is
available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org
