Gun manufacturers didn’t waste time seeking the dismissal of a pending lawsuit filed by the city of Gary in 1999.
The lawsuit alleged the gun industry should be held as a public nuisance for supplying guns they know will reach criminals and others who can’t legally buy them.
On Monday, 11 gun manufacturers sought the dismissal of the lawsuit in Judge John Sedia’s Lake Superior court in Hammond, citing a new law signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb March 15.
It takes the right to sue the gun industry away from municipalities and allows only Indiana, through its attorney general, to file such lawsuits.
State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, a city of Gary attorney who represents the city on the lawsuit, said the next court date is May 8.
“I doubt we’ll be litigating the motion to dismiss at that point,” he said. “We’re going to get 30 days and we’ll end up challenging the underlying law.”
Pol said the city would have standing to challenge the applicability to its case.
When the lawsuit was filed in 1999, Pol said Gary was known as the country’s “murder capital” when it led the nation in gun killings per capita.
“Despite how hard police and prosecutors worked, there was an unlimited amount of guns going to criminals and the gun industry profited,” he said. “Stores made money, hand over fist.”
Pol said the May 8 hearing will also serve to see where the judge is on the case and its pending discovery.
“I think, this is, unfortunately, the opposite of draining the swamp. It’s letting the powerful industries dictate, so they won’t be held to actions,” said Pol of the new state law passed by the GOP-dominated General Assembly.
On March 15, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed House Bill 1235 that retroactively bans litigation from Gary and stops other municipalities from filing similar lawsuits. It takes effect July 1.
Holcomb said the legislation doesn’t stop private individuals or businesses from filing lawsuits.
“It does bring closure to a long-standing statewide legislative debate,” Holcomb said in a statement.
After years of delays that Pol blamed on the gun industry, the Gary case survived challenges in the state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court, allowing it to move forward.
Monday’s motion to dismiss was filed by 12 attorneys who represented Smith & Wesson Corp., Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC, Beretta U.S.A. Corp., Phoenix Arms, Glock, Inc., Beemiller, Inc. known as Hi-Point Firearms, Browning Arms Corp., and Taurus International Manufacturing Inc.
The city is assisted in its lawsuit by attorneys from the Brady Center.
Meanwhile, the city of Chicago sued Glock Inc. Tuesday alleging the handgun maker facilitated the proliferation of illegal machine guns that can fire as many as 1,200 rounds per minute on the city’s streets.
The complaint said Glock makes and sells semiautomatic pistols that can easily be converted to illegal machine guns with an “auto sear” known as a Glock switch and the guns have endangered the lives of Chicagoans.
In 2023, Illinois passed a Firearms Industry Responsibility Act to hold gun companies accountable for conduct that endangers the public.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Carole Carlson , 2024-03-21 20:26:05
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