Posted on 08/03/2004 8:29:27 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
Handgun Control, Inc. Strikes out in Third Retrial of Case
This was the third time the case had been tried. The lawsuit was filed in 1995 on behalf of the parents of Dix by lawyers from Handgun Control Inc. (since renamed as Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence). Handgun Control Inc. tried to claim Beretta was at fault for not having included a built-in lock and for not providing more warnings by having a different "loaded chamber indicator" feature than the one on the firearm. The case gained national media attention in late 1998 when a jury in the first trial found that the design of the Beretta pistol was not defective and did not cause the accident. An appellate court, however, ordered a retrial because a juror allegedly told fellow jurors he didn't think Beretta was at fault before the jury began its deliberations. In a retrial last year the plaintiffs were again unable to convince a jury that the pistol's design was defective and caused the accident resulting in a mistrial.
The Dix case was the first major lawsuit filed and funded by the Brady Center against a firearms manufacturer in an attempt to use litigation to force the redesign of firearms to include so-called "safety" devices. The Brady Center has filed similar suits against other manufacturers.
"The Brady Center has struck out. This jury -- as two others before it -- listened carefully to all the evidence and again refused to blame the product manufacturer for reckless misuse of its product," said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry's trade association.
"Unquestionably, the Brady Center has suffered a major setback in its efforts to use the courts to force its gun control agenda upon product manufacturers and their design engineers who care deeply about the safety of consumers and who design safe and reliable products," Keane added. He noted that the number and rate of firearm accidents are at their lowest levels since record keeping began in 1903 -- all while the number of firearms in private ownership has grown.
"We are sorry for the tragedy suffered by the Dix family and we hope publicity from this case will warn parents who own firearms to store them unloaded and locked if they have teenage children," said Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta U.S.A. "It also bears mentioning, though, that three juries have looked at the facts of this case and not one has agreed with the plaintiffs nor with the attorneys at Handgun Control, Inc. that the design of a pistol somehow caused this accident. When a firearm owner leaves his unlocked, loaded pistol where his teenage son can find it, and when that son fails to check the firing chamber -- something he knew how to do -- to see if the gun is loaded, then pointed the pistol at a friend, disengaged the safety lever and then pulled the trigger, it should be obvious that human carelessness, not a pistol design, caused the accident."
Molon Labe!
Yeah but how much has this cost them? We need a loser pays.
maybe someone should sue HCI for malicious prosecution on this three time LOSER.
Well, they just need to try the case a few more times until they get the result they want. It's just like Gore's people continuing to count votes until all the chads fall out of the ballots.
exactly.
It would be even better if it was "loser AND trial lawyer pays" - each would have to pay the full amount - essentially giving the defendant attorney's fees plus a 'sorry we wasted your time' bonus. That would remove a lot of incentive to file bogus suits.
I don't imagine any version of 'loser pays' being possible if kerry / edwards won.
I disagree. On this case alone, they have caused a gun mfg to spend large sums of cash and effort to defend themselves on three different occasions. Since Brady gets their money from political activists, there is no real downside for them.
Until gun mfg's can figure a way to sue Brady into oblivion, the problem (Brady) won't go away.
seems to me,three strikes you're out!
That Beretta had to defend itself the first time against such charges...well, that's America.
That Beretta had to defend itself against such charges a second time because of a dingbat judge, is cause for concern.
That Beretta had to defend itself against the same charges a third time is unconscionable.
Someone besides Beretta should be picking up the tab on this one.
That's why all Americans need to keep buying guns. It's the best way to keep the industry alive.
This is why we need judicial reform, particularly getting good Conservative judges and banning frivolous lawsuits.
If this is not harrasment on the part of the HCI/BradyBunch, I don't know what it is.
That's why all Americans need to keep buying guns. It's the best way to keep the industry alive.
Yup......just ordered a new Kahr PM9, bought a Bulgarian Mak for my boy last week and am anxiously awaiting a new handgun in 17M2 when they come out in Sept.
Way to go umgud, everytime we buy a gun the liberals become more hysterical.
Okay folks, we have lots of idiots in CA. But give us credit, three juries of CA citizens got this case right! And in Alameda County no less.
I don't know. A teenager who knows how to check to see if the gun is loaded points the gun at someone, disengages the safety, and pulls the trigger. I think that sounds more like murder.
ping!
I wonder in the coming years if parents will be charged with "child endangerment" if they do not keep their guns locked up, unloaded, and out of reach of teenagers.
This might just be a reflection of my upbringing in the *very* rural South, but I got my first gun (A nice little .410 single-shot, which I hope to pass down to my son one day, if/when I have children :P), which I kept in my room, w/ammunition, at age 10. Ive been an avid hunter all my life, and my father taught me how to properly handle guns at a very early age. These kinds of accidents, IMHO, reflect very poor parenting.
Ditto, first gun was a .22 bolt action single shot at 10 years old, still have it at 45! Most recent gun (last week)was a .44 mag, S&W. Next one will be to finish putting together the AR I've ben gathering the parts for for 6 months, after the AWB expires!
It sure sounds like murder, or at least intentional homicide.
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