Chicago gun makers not liable
Publish date: 24 November 2004
Issue Number: 1224
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Corruption
The city of Chicago has lost its lawsuit against gun makers.
The Illinois Supreme Court, reports The Washington Times, refused to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for Chicago street violence or of knowingly supplying guns to criminals - a decision that could affect the filing of future lawsuits. Chicago sued for $433m for health care costs and city emergency expenses - and asserting the firearms industry was liable for causing a \'public nuisance\'. Justice Rita Garman said the city\'s claims were \'the result of numerous unforeseeable intervening criminal acts by third parties not under defendant\'s control\'. She said it was \'the presence and use of the guns within Chicago that constituted the alleged nuisance, not the activities at the defendants\' various places of business\'. Full report in The Washington Times