Judge dismisses lawsuit against gun industry

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis County judge has dismissed a lawsuit the city of St. Louis brought against the gun industry seeking reimbursement for costs associated with gun-related injuries.

St. Louis County Judge Emmett O'Brien said he found no basis for the claim. O'Brien dismissed the lawsuit against gun manufacturers on Oct. 15. Then on Friday, he dismissed it against the remaining defendants: gun distributors and trade organizations.

In a five-page opinion, O'Brien wrote that such lawsuits would open "a floodgate to additional litigation." He also said that "issues of both logic and fairness" favored dismissing the case.

St. Louis city counselor Patti Hageman said Monday it was too early to say whether the city would appeal the decision.

The lawsuit, filed in April 1999, had charged the industry with being a nuisance for suspicious distribution systems, city attorneys said. It sought repayment of the city's health-care, police and fire costs connected with gun-related injuries and crimes. The lawsuit maintained that manufacturers and retailers intentionally worked to sell firearms to dangerous individuals.

It is one of two dozen similar lawsuits -- seeking to recover law enforcement and public health expenses -- that have been filed nationwide by 32 cities and counties. Little progress was made in the St. Louis case over the years it moved from city circuit court to federal court, and back a couple times before ending up in St. Louis County court.

Initially the case involved 36 defendants including gun manufacturers in China and Germany, said Carl W. Yates III, assistant city counselor for St. Louis.

Yates and Hageman said it was unclear whether a new Missouri law, which made it illegal for governments to sue the gun industry over the social costs of gun violence, affected the case. State lawmakers last month overrode the veto of Gov. Bob Holden to pass the law.

Yates and Hageman said the new law was not argued in the St. Louis case.

The legislation prohibits cities, counties, the state or any other political subdivision from bringing lawsuits against gun and ammunition manufacturers, dealers and trade associations relating to lawfully made and distributed products.

The legislation was intended to halt the St. Louis lawsuit, and it specifically stated that it applies to pending lawsuits, as well as future ones.

Whether the September law can be applied retroactively to an existing lawsuit depends on several hurdles, Yates said.

The St. Louis suit is not related to a case challenging the constitutionality of a new state concealed-guns law. St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer is reviewing that case.

Dennis Henigan, legal director of the Washington-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said his group filed the first of the lawsuits in New Orleans in 1998. He also served as co-counsel in the St. Louis case. Henigan said it's an effort by cities and counties to recover the public costs of gun violence attributed to the conduct and practices of the gun industry.

He said its distribution system allows suspect gun dealers to funnel weapons to the illegal market.

On Monday, a California court approved settlements by three national gun distributors and two major gun dealers to curb the flow of guns to the illegal market, Henigan said.

The National Rifle Association, which was not a party to the suit, said it was pleased by the decision in the St. Louis case.

"These are politically motivated lawsuits aimed at bankrupting the industry and are costing taxpayers millions of dollars," NRA spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs said.

Hobbs said baseless suits have been launched against a lawful industry.

A secretary for Alan Kohn, the St. Louis attorney representing some of the defendants, said he was out of the office late Monday. A phone message left at Kohn's home was not immediately returned.