Washington sniper victims settle with US Gunmaker

The company that made the Bushmaster rifle used in the Washington area sniper killings and a gun shop that lost track of the firearm agreed to pay $2.5 million to victims, in what lawyers said on Thursday was an unprecedented settlement.

www.reuters.com...

The payout was to victims of the Oct. 2002 shootings and was the firrst of its kind by a gun manufacturer for negligent distribution of firearms.

I hope this doesn't mean that every time there is a murder or crime with a gun, the focus won't be on the crime itself but will split time trying to find out if the gun was purchased legally. What difference does it make? It wont bring the victim back, it will just help the lawyers pad thier wallets and give gun haters more of thier 15 minutes of fame.

Ya know, I can agree with the gun shop getting fined for screwing up, but why do people still insist on suing the companies that make the gun? Now if the safety malfunctioned and it fired at the wrong time, then by all means they are at fault, but not when someone takes a gun out and kills with it. Thats like saying I can sue Honda becaue a woman driving it drunk hit me, causing a large piece of glass to pierce my left eye and cause me to be damn near blind at 21. Where has the logic gone?

I hate these types of lawsuits. Lets take blame away from the person that decided to use that weapon for evil. Bushmaster doesnt fit the bill for this the cost is just passed on to the lawful gun owner that wants to go out and buy a bushmaster and has the price increased on his gun. Then they have the cost of having lawyers to protect them from such lawsuits even more money to pass on to there guns yeah

We need laws to prevent gun manufacturers from getting sued. Keep the blame were it belongs on the person that committed the crime.

ShawdowX1X. If they left the blame where it belongs then who would the lawyers have to sue? You can bet they are going to rally to keep this lawsuit a precedent!

ShawdowX1X. If they left the blame where it belongs then who would the lawyers have to sue? You can bet they are going to rally to keep this lawsuit a precedent!

Of course, lawyers are a pefect example of Capitalism gone awry. They care only about money, and will make it through any means, no matter if its wrong, right or just plain crazy. Just about every lawyer I have ever met has left me feeling like I was just handling a large slimy fish.

I feel for the victims.

But the family members settling for blood money?

They should be concentrating on getting a death penalty sentence for each of the perpetrators involved in these crimes.

Damn a lawyer.

It's the same old crap of pointing fingers towards everyone else but the guilty.

What an utter pile of old this is. Its even worse than the mindless old git who drove away with a cup of coffee between her knees, got burned and sued McDonalds !!!!

What next ? ...

I drank nine pints of Guinness and got sick - can I sue them for the pain I was caused ?

KayEm bought me a pizza - I cooked it too long and burned my tongue - can I sue the pizza maker ?

If they want to 'sue' anyone, do it to the murdering bastards who used the guns.

:shk:

This # is getting out of control. I guess I can sue car manufacturers for any collisions I have in the future or knife companies for anyone who stabs me

This bullshyte has got to stop!

I agree that the gun shop dropped the ball on this, but I don�t think Bushmaster should be held responsible for what people choose to do with what they make. From the looks of things on their website, they voluntarily spent the rest of their policy ($550,000) because they wanted to, not because they had to. These are the two press releases that now show up instead of the usual Bushmaster splash screen:

Press Release
Bushmaster Responds to Brady Groups False Claim of Victory
Thursday September 9, 2004 9:24AM est

Windham, Maine -- The Washington DC Brady Group would have you believe they won some kind of victory! The Brady Group brought this lawsuit not for the victims, but for their anti-gun agenda. The Brady Group asked for the settlement conference after reviewing all the evidence they knew they could not be successful in court and they wanted to stop paying lawyer fees.

The Brady Group sent a second tier lawyer to the settlement conference with nine demands on Bushmaster regarding business practices and Bushmaster denied them all. We then gave the Brady Group our statement that we support the BATF licensing requirements to be a Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) holder and our support for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) safety programs, and they accepted our statement. We did not agree and would not agree to change the way we do business or make any additional demands of our customers. We were emphatic that Bushmaster did not commit any wrong doings.

The attorney for our insurance company was at the settlement conference and informed us that about half of our policy limits had been spent on trial lawyers. It was the insurance company�s position that all of the limit would be spent on this case, and therefore turned the funds over to Bushmaster to use as we saw fit removing the insurance company from the case. Our choice was to continue spending it on trial lawyers or turn it over directly to the victims� families with no funds going to the Brady Group for their legal fees.

We felt the compassionate thing to do was give it to the victims� families, not because we had to but because we wanted to. The Washington DC Brady Group should learn what compassion is really all about!

Bushmaster strongly believes and vigorously supports the rights of citizens to own and use firearms, and the settlement of this case in no way compromises that stand. The Brady Group�s attempt at claiming a victory over firearms manufacturers is a hollow one with no substance. Their attempt to eliminate gun rights of citizens has failed legislatively and will continue to fail with these frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
Bushmaster Firearms, Inc.

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Press Release:
September 8th, 2004 5:54PM est
Windham, Maine -- Bushmaster Firearms is pleased to announce a conclusion to the DC sniper case brought by the victim�s families and the Brady organization. The balance of the insurance policy not spent on legal fees, approximately $550,000, will go to the victim�s families for their grief.
Bushmaster reaffirms its commitment to BATF requirements and National Shooting Sports Foundation�s (NSSF) goals.
Bushmaster supports that FFL Dealers and Distributors who sell its products follow the recommendations of the BATF newsletters and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) publication �Don�t Lie for the Other Guy� program and their other safety literature.
Bushmaster supports the standards set forth by the BATF in their requirements to be a licensed FFL holder.

Richard E. Dyke
Chairman
Bushmaster Firearms, Inc.
Windham, Maine

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www.bushmaster.com...

"The Brady Center said 238 guns had disappeared from the Bull's Eye gun shop, near where Muhammad and Malvo lived for a brief time, and that more than 50 guns from the shop were traced to criminal acts between 1997 and 2001."


I can't see suing the gun manufacturer because they had nothing to do with the gun ending up in the wrong hands. I can see suing Bull's Eye because they didn't keep the guns secure, obviously, or else so many wouldn't have "disappeared". They either got robbed or dealt under the table to sell them illegally. If guns are to remain legal and be sold legally, they must be dealt with properly by the dealers. The rules must be adhered to. A gun shop should be better at securing their inventory than this.

Of course, I don't accept the Brady figure at face value because they have an agenda to drive, but obviously there was some breakdown in responsibility at Bull's Eye.