Prometheus 6:

April 23, 2003

Accessory before the fact

From the NY Times
Gun Maker Found Liable in Shooting Accident
By FOX BUTTERFIELD

An Oakland jury has found a California gun maker, its designer and its main distributor partly liable in an accidental shooting that left a 7-year-old boy a quadriplegic.

. . . The jury found that Bryco Arms, the maker of the .38-caliber semiautomatic used in the shooting; Bruce Jennings, the gun's designer and the company's founder; and the company's main distributor, B. L. Jennings Inc. 35 percent liable for the injury to the boy, Brandon Maxfield, who was shot in the chin by a baby sitter in 1994.

In addition, the jury found two other gun distributors that shipped the gun and the pawnshop in Willits, Calif., where it was bought 13 percent liable.

The jury assessed the remaining responsibility to Larry Moreford, the 20-year-old baby sitter who accidentally pulled the trigger while trying to unload the gun, and to Brandon Maxfield's parents, who had bought it.

. . . In Brandon's case, Ms. Ni said, the crucial issue was that the .38-caliber Bryco semiautomatic was designed in such a way that it could be unloaded only when the safety was turned to the "off" position.

"You have to disengage the safety and put the gun in a dangerous position to unload it," Ms. Ni said. "That is a defect in the design."

During testimony, it was shown that Mr. Jennings had changed the design of the gun to make it operate that way.

Bryco Arms makes what are commonly referred to as Saturday night specials, inexpensive handguns with features that would put them on a list of guns prohibited from being imported to the United States. Mike Hewitt, the lawyer for Bryco and Mr. Jennings, did not return calls seeking comment.

This would be good, except:

. . . Whatever damages the jury determines, Ms. Ni said, could be nullified by a bill now in Congress that would grant the gun industry nearly complete immunity against such lawsuits. The bill, which passed the House earlier this month, is expected to be taken up in the Senate after the Easter recess. The bill, sponsored by the National Rifle Association and the gun industry, has 52 co-sponsors in the Senate, enough to pass.

I am not one of those who feel someone should be able to sue a company for spilling hot coffee on themselves or wearing a hair dryer in the shower. But clearly a manufacturer whose design flaws leave a reasonable person at risk must be held responsible for their error. The fact the product is The Weapon of Heroes shouldn't make the manufacturer immune.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 4/23/2003 08:20:46 AM |

Posted by P6 at April 23, 2003 08:20 AM | Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/313

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