 National Association of Counties * Washington, DC Vol. 31, No. 1 * January 18, 1999 Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story Suits pit counties against gun makers Miami-Dade County, San Francisco latest to join fight By Mary Ann Barton
Local governments have gun manufacturers in their sights these days, taking legal action to recover millions of dollars spent on police, health care and emergency services. It’s a shoot-out some compare to the fight between the states and the tobacco industry. Cook County and Chicago, and the City of New Orleans/Orleans Parish are the only local governments that have filed complaints so far, each pursuing different legal arguments. Cook County says gun manufacturers and sellers are creating a "public nuisance" by making guns available to residents of Chicago, where guns are illegal. The other theory, advanced by the City of New Orleans/Orleans Parish under a state product liability law, is that guns sold there are defective because they don’t include safety systems.
The pressure on gun makers will likely intensify this week when Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas goes before the county board seeking permission to take legal action against the industry, asking for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. "I want to send the gun industry a bill from the taxpayers because of their negligence," Penelas said. The City and County of San Francisco also plans a lawsuit, in conjunction with the City of Los Angeles, making its announcement before the end of February, according to Marc Slavin, spokesperson for San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne. At the end of this month, the City and County of Philadelphia plans to decide on when to file a lawsuit, said Donna Cooper, deputy mayor for policy and planning. She added that Philadelphia is trying to coordinate a joint announcement with other cities. Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell chairs a U.S. Conference of Mayors task force on the issue. Dennis Henigan, director of the Legal Action Project at the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, said that Wayne County, Mich. is also considering a lawsuit.
The city and county are suing under strict gun control ordinances, which were enacted "to protect the public’s health, welfare and safety," the complaint said. In the Cook County case, being litigated by a team of six city and county lawyers, the charge is creating a "public nuisance." The damages that Cook County seeks include:
"We have already reduced crime in New Orleans by 40 percent since 1994," Mayor Marc Morial said in a statement. "This lawsuit is the next step in making New Orleans the safest city in America." In the New Orleans/Orleans Parish case, where a group of private lawyers active in the tobacco settlement case are helping represent the plaintiffs, the gun industry is accused of not including safety features to prevent their use by children and other unauthorized users. They say that the guns are "unreasonably dangerous." Under a Louisiana product liability statute, a manufacturer can be held liable for damage caused by a product that is unreasonably dangerous in design. In this lawsuit, Orleans Parish is alleging that guns that fail to incorporate safety systems are unreasonably dangerous in design. They compare it to car makers being held liable for failing to install seat belts and air bags. Henigan, the lawyer who works for the Washington-based Center to Prevent Handgun Violence – and who is working for New Orleans and Miami-Dade County – says they are looking for the gun industry to make design changes in guns. "The industry has a tendency to focus on smart-gun technologies – guns that recognize their user. They say ‘we haven’t done it yet,’ but that’s not an answer. There are relatively simple locking systems. It’s no more technically advanced than locking an average briefcase."
Penelas said the county will "most likely" pursue the product liability theory. "We believe there are better safety techniques that can be developed and they’re not doing it." "We’re looking at New Orleans more than Chicago, since theirs is based on their strict gun laws and Florida has lax laws," Ramallo said. "Our attorneys are still looking at it. It may be a combination of things." The legal work will be headed up by the county attorney’s office.
Cooper said her boss, Mayor Rendell, is a former district attorney and "wants to think through getting past motions to dismiss and a trial. That’s why we’re really trying to hone this stuff." She predicts the Cook County and Orleans Parish cases won’t go to trial for at least two years.
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Other counties are following in their footsteps.