REDUCING GUN REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE VIOLENCE THROUGH THROUGH

CIVIL CIVIL LITIGATIONLITIGATION

• more than 30,000 people killed in homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings each year

• 82 shooting deaths per day• 70,000 people injured each year One in three people in the U.S. know someone who has been

shot.

The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22 countries that are our peers in wealth and population.

AMERICA’S GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC

REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE THROUGH LITIGATION

• Hold gun dealers and manufacturers accountable• Challenge and defeat overbroad and/or

unconstitutional laws• Defend sensible gun violence prevention laws

Holding Gun Dealers AccountableJohnson v. Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply

2003 WL 21639244 (Wash. Super. Ct., June 27, 2003)

Conrad Johnson, Last victim of the DC snipers

Pre-PLCAA case against the worst gun dealer in U.S., had over 200 “missing” guns and years of ATF violations

Claimed negligent entrustment and general negligence against Bull’s Eye, the dealer, and Bushmaster, the gun manufacturer

• $2.5 million for families• ATF revoked dealer license• Bushmaster changed

distribution practices• Dealer out of business

Denise Johnson, Conrad’s wife

Shirley v. Glass (Kansas)

• Zeus, 8 yrs. old, was murdered by his estranged father Russell Graham.

• Straw purchase case: “Have you been a good boy?”

• Appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court

• Won on all issues: establishing gun dealer liable for negligent entrustment and negligence per se

• Court held that gun dealers must be held to the “highest standard of care”

Zeus Graham, 8, was shot and killed by his father with a straw-purchase rifle.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

• Message to Gun Dealers: PROFIT OVER PEOPLE = CIVIL LIABILITY

• Legal precedent that gun sellers will be held accountable for their misconduct.

• Don’t Lie for the Other Guy

• Gun dealer quote: “I read about your lawsuit and changed my business practice.”

Reject Extremism in Gun Laws

“Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” Justice Scalia (emphasis added)

• Ordinance requiring every Head of Household within the City limits to maintain a working firearm and ammunition.

• Allowed exemptions• Mental infirmity• Pauper• Religious or conscientious objector

Brady Center v. City of Nelson, GeorgiaFirst Amendment: Compelled speech, objectors must involuntarily and publicly declare they fall in one of the exempt categories

Second Amendment: Violates the right to self-defense; keeping ones home safe by not bringing in a gun

• Florida law passed in 2011 (backed by the NRA) preventing doctors from asking patients about gun ownership, or risk losing license

• Challenged by numerous medical organizations on 1st and 14th Amendment grounds

“Docs v. Glocks”

• Permanently blocked by federal District Court in September 2011

• Appealed to 11th Circuit in July 2012, argued by LSA Leadership Council Firm Ropes & Gray

Defending Reasonable Gun LawsVarious states have passed new gun violence prevention legislation since the horrific events in Newtown, CT in December 2012, including:

•Connecticut•New York•Colorado•Maryland•Delaware

Gun rights groups in each state are challenging the new laws, which include assault weapon and high capacity magazine bans, on Second Amendment grounds.

LSA is working to protect these new common-sense provisions.

Supporting the development of reasonable Second Amendment law through amicus work:

•1st Circuit: Hightower v. Boston•2nd Circuit: Kachalsky v. Cacace•3rd Circuit: Drake v. Filko•4th Circuit: Woollard v. Sheridan

NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTTO CONCEALED CARRY

GET INVOLVEDWWW.LAWYERSFORASAFERAMERICA.ORG

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