Media Coverage
Source: New York Law Journal
Media Coverage
10.12.12
Kenneth Taber, a partner in Pillsbury’s litigation practice in New York, comments on a decision by a state appellate court to reinstate a gun liability lawsuit. According to the publication, this decision may be the first in the nation to hold that the federal Protection of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act does not preclude and, in fact, specifically permits an action where the plaintiff alleges the manufacturer and distributor, as well as the dealer, knowingly violated gun control laws.
The unanimous decision by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in Williams v. Beemiller, is being touted by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C., which brought the appeal, as a game-changing landmark.
Taber, who argued gun liability cases for the City of New York against 27 dealers, said the Fourth Department’s holding that gun dealers can be sued notwithstanding the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act is consistent with the theory in the cases he brought and the legal conclusions reached by Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein. However, he said that the expansion of that theory to include manufacturers and distributors, and not just the dealer, is “new and different” and potentially groundbreaking.
“The Fourth Department has extended this to manufacturers and distributors, and that raises an issue that was not presented in the cases we handled for the City of New York,” Taber said. “It will be very interesting to see how that finding plays out in light of some contrary prior decisions.”