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Discuss: Gun Liability

Should victims of gun violence be allowed to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers?

In 2005, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The law protects gun manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. The law was passed in response to a series of lawsuits filed against the gun industry in the late 1990s which claimed gun-makers and sellers were not doing enough to prevent crimes committed with their products. Proponents of the law argue that lawsuits will discourage gun manufacturers from supplying stores who sell guns that end up being used in violent crimes. Opponents argue that gun manufacturers are not responsible for random acts of violence committed with their products.

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2%

Yes, any business should be held liable if the primary use of its product is for illegal activity

9%

No, manufacturers and dealers should only be held liable for negligence

2%

Yes, as long as the losing party pays all legal fees, it’s our constitutional right to sue anyone for any reason

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Absolutely not. This is asinine and comparable to suing a hammer maker because you smashed your thumb. Even if someone smashed someone elses thumb, on purpose. It is not the fault of the tool maker. It is the responsibility of each person to handle those tools appropriately. Decisions come with consequences. Use a tool for harm, and that person should deal with those consequences, not a company who made it.

Firearms dealers should only be dealt with legally if they sold someone a gun without going through the proper process.

I think that the people who make the guns should not be responsible unless if their products cause a huge number of problems worldwide.

Depending on if the firearm user is the one being injured, say you purchased a faulty firearm and attempted to fire it and it backfires on you, hurting your arm, then you should be able to fault the manufacturer or dealer, but only in that scenario.

Yes, the constitution gives us the right to sue for any reason. It does not mean that the case should win in court but I would not prevent any one from suing for any reason.

 @585VTVHfrom Pennsylvania  answered…4yrs4Y

NO. Guns don't kill people; people kill people. If we start suing legally acting gun manufacturers and dealers, then we should also start suing knife makers and car makers, because people are routinely killed by those items also. Let's get reasonable, people; reserve your lawsuits for the entities who actually deserve them: the people who committed the violent act in the first place.

No, unless they had a true influence over the violence.

For crimes involving assault rifles only

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Police "Didn't Return Fire" In Sweden Mass Shooting

It was about 12:30 p.m. on a gray Tuesday in Orebro, Sweden, when gunfire erupted at an adult education center, with students and teachers in class. Minutes later, as an alarm wailed, the police charged into the center, Campus Risbergska, where they encountered a chaotic, smoke-filled scene. It would be hours before they gave an all-clear.“An inferno. Dead people. Injured people. Screams and smoke,” Lars Wiren, Orebro’s police chief, said Thursday at a news conference as he described the scene.When officers entered the school on Tuesday, it was filled with smoke from pyrotechnics, Mr. Wiren said. The police came under a hail of gunfire so intense that officers could not tell how many shooters were on the scene, he added. Through the smoke, officers saw a man approaching them and carrying what appeared to be a rifle.The man continued to shoot, emptying several magazines of ammunition. In the chaos, none of the 130 police officers chose to return fire, the police chief said.“You have to respect the situation. There’s panic among the students, the teachers,” Mr. Wiren said. “There’s smoke. The circumstances must be right in order to fire.”After about an hour, officers later found the gunman among the dead. Near his body were three weapons, including the rifle. Scattered nearby were at least 10 empty magazines and unused ammunition, Mr. Wiren said.Police officers fanned out across the four-acre campus, searching for victims and possibly more perpetrators in an operation that lasted over three hours, according to a police timeline of events.In one of the classrooms, Hellen Werme and other students hid for at least two hours under tables and hospital beds used for training. As soon as shots rang out, they locked the door and hid on the far side of the room, she said. At one point, they heard the gunman pass by.“We were very quiet. He was close,” Ms. Werme, 35, recalled a day later. “I could hear his steps, but then the shots were further and further away.”

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No

▲  578 replies3 disagree