In what can only be considered a failure of the judicial process, a federal-court jury in New York City delivered a mixed verdict that found some of the firearms manufacturers named in the civil lawsuit Hamilton v. Accu-Tek to have engaged in some form of "negligent" marketing practices. Lawyers for the firearms industry immediately requested that the jury's decision be thrown out, which presiding judge Jack Weinstein stated he would consider doing. If he does not, defense lawyers vowed to appeal the ruling.

      While troubling, this decision should not be considered precedent setting, nor is it a serious blow to the firearms industry at this time. Civil juries often render decisions that are later struck down by the presiding judge, or overturned on appeal, due to the fact that they failed to truly consider the facts of the case, or seemed to base their decision on emotional or other issues unrelated to law. This particular case involved jury deliberations that were described as "stormy at times," according to an article in the February 12 edition of the New York Times, and there were several times when it appeared that a mistrial was imminent. Several times the jury stated it was deadlocked, and could not come to a unanimous decision, but Judge Weinstein repeatedly sent them back into deliberation.

      NRA is not directly involved in this case; however, we will continue to watch it closely, and report any further developments. Our focus in addressing the issue of frivolous lawsuits filed by mayors and municipalities against the firearms industry -- suits designed to beat gun manufacturers into "concessions" and/or bankruptcy through continual litigation, rather than address the problem of the criminal misuse of firearms -- continues to be in the legislative arena. We are working at both the state and federal level to pass laws that will either prohibit cities from entering into such suits, as we did in Georgia, or severely limit the amount of money that opportunistic trial attorneys can claim from potential jury decisions. If there is no possibility of a financial windfall, then those attorneys who are driven by the almighty dollar will have no incentive to pursue similar cases. Please continue to contact your elected officials, both at the state and federal level, and urge them to work to put an end to these baseless attacks on an industry that is already saddled with countless rules and regulations regarding the distribution of their legal products. Remind them that it is their job to set policy by passing laws, and that the courts must not be manipulated to improperly circumvent the legislative process.

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This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.

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