Paul Hughes wrote:
> Ok,
>
> So some people now think I'm paranoid about Y2K and our own
> government. Yet a landmark case just found gun
> manufacturers liable for the violent actions of someone
> else! Read on!!
>
> http://www.msnbc.com/msn/240271.asp
This will most likely get overturned on appeal. The judge obviously instructed the jury to disregard the concept of 'jury nullification'. The logic is specious, and the manufacturers may get the NRA to support a suit against the city for unconstitutionally restricting the rights of the victims to carry firearms, thus not being able to protect themselves.
Moreover, there is a problem with jurisdiction. If the manufacturers committed the acts in southern states, as alleged, then the trials should be there. If the acts were in the boardrooms of the manufacturers then the trials should have been in Conneticutt or New Hampshire or Arizona, etc. Since there are no gun manufacturers based in New York, the court there has no jurisdiction, even though residents of the state may have standing. There is also the fact that since they are convicting the manufacturers on the basis of interstate trade, they are imfringing on the power of congress, which is also an avenue they can get the ruling knocked out on.