Jury Clears Gun Maker in Accidental Shooting

[Bowline]

Handgun Control, Inc. Strikes out in Third Retrial of Case

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- An Alameda County Superior Court jury yesterday found that firearm manufacturer Beretta U.S.A. Corp. was not responsible for the tragic 1994 accidental shooting death of a 14-year-old boy. Kenzo Dix was killed when his friend played with a firearm that was left loaded and unlocked by an irresponsible parent. The jury deliberated only five hours before returning a verdict in favor of Beretta U.S.A. Corp., finding the pistol's design did not cause the accident.

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.

Complete article.

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From a California jury no less! Sounds like some common sense is prevailing in the Golden State after all. It's indicative of our legal system that this took THREE times before it was finally defeated. Let's hope it's the last time for this case. Hopefully this will set a precedent of holding gun owners responsible for safe storage of their guns and not the manufacturers.

[gatlingforme]

1. agreed, kinda of disheartening to think it went that far.

[Bowline]

2. Yep. Three times HCI tried to win this case. When will they quit?

Will they keep trying 'til they get the verdict they like?

[CO Liberal]

11. When Pro-Gunners Stop Spreading Lies About Them

THAT'S when they'll stop...

[FeebMaster]

12. So they're doing it out of spite? (nt)

[Bowline]

17. I was referring only to this particular case.

What lies have pro-gunners spread about HCI regarding this case?

[DonP]

20. Well, so far 36 citizens said HCI is full of shit

Well, they didn't quite say that but that did say get the hell out of court with your foolishness.

But, I guess they can keep jury shopping and hope they'll find 12 people that will ignore the facts of the case and the law and go based on everyone knowing the gun industry is inherently evil and corrupt, right?

Maybe.

Remember this decision everybody as you folks write your next donation check to HCI and Co.

[CarinKaryn]

27. such a crock

I donate whatever I can not just in cash but also in volunteer work. You should try it. Be good for you.

[FatSlob]

33. I would never donate anything to a group

so opposed to personal freedom.

[CO Liberal]

32. 36 Out of 300 Million

[FatSlob]

34. Sure is nice to see the jury do the right thing, isn't it?

[minavasht]

37. You can look at it this way

but I think 36 of the 36 asked is more accurate.

[FatSlob]

30. Yeah, right.

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[pocket]

3. loaded chamber indicators

are a bad idea, imho. They are a crutch used to circumvent the first rule of firearm safety, that every gun is to be treated as if it was loaded.

[Bowline]

4. Agreed. n/t

[thomas82]

16. Wont they ever learn

The parents are at fault not the gun manufacture. If I run you over are you going to sue Toyota? It is sad that this happened and my prayers go to the family. Keep your guns locked up and this won't happen.

Tom

[slackmaster]

5. Chamber-loaded indicators were intended to tell you a gun IS loaded

Not that it is not loaded.

I've seen the original German language manual for the Walther P.38. Instructions show how to verify, using your thumb, that the safety is OFF, the hammer is COCKED, and that the chamber is LOADED. That eliminates the need to rack the action, which makes noise and may waste a round of ammunition.

The idea of relying on a chamber-loaded indicator to tell you that a gun is NOT loaded seems completely insane to me, and it's a perversion of the original intent of the device.

[MrSandman]

13. Works with PPK/s...

To insure a loaded chamber. I don't like the manual safety, though. Maybe go to a SIG.

[Bowline]

18. My Taurus has a manual safety but I don't carry it with the safety on.

As it's a DAO pistol I feel the manual safety is redundant and might cause problems in a panic type situation.

The only safety one needs is the one located directly between your ears.

[MrSandman]

21. Still have to...

Practice to flip the safety in case of inadvertent engagement.
My reason for dislike.

[Bowline]

25. Good point.

I still do a thumb-check whenever I shoot the thing. It's a habit formed from many years of shooting 1911s.

[MrSandman]

26. And a PITA when...

Changing from the P220 to the PPK/s and back.

[skippythwndrdog]

6. Three cheers for the jury!

Three (more) jeers for the Saps for Sarah.

I didn't read the entire article, therefore I must make an assumption. That assumption is that Dix's friend who fired the pistol was about the same age as Dix (14). Surely by that age, given the exposure to virtually everything in the world, courtesy of the various media available, kids would know that firearms of any sort are potentially lethal and not toys.

Does anyone else see the inequity of the case from this point? The firearms manufacturer is responsible for the death because they made the evil gun, but both kids are "victims" of said manufacturer. The cicil suit proceeds to trial. Yet, we see almost daily where the same courts rule that kids as young as this can be tried as adults because the should know that their actions (often that action is firing a gun at someone intentionally) can cause great harm.

Talk about a serious double standard issue!

[CarinKaryn]

7. I wonder how much $$$ Beretta spent

to make this case go away.

[skippythwndrdog]

8. Don't you mean "How much $$$ they wasted"

To defend themselves from an unfounded and meritless lawsuit brought by the meddling nannys at sarah's house?

[DonP]

9. Huh?

How do you equate three jury trials and dismissals with "making the case go away"?

The case "went away" because it was a really stupid idea in the first place and the citizens on three separate juries realized that too.

The better question is why did they keep trying, 3 separate times, to try and make the case stick and will Beretta be able to recover their legal costs from HCI/VPC etc. on this suit as part of the judgement.

[MrSandman]

15. Hire lawyers when you cannot pass legislation...n/t

[Bowline]

19. A tactic not exclusive to the anti-gun folks.

All to often in America today people will sue at the drop of a hat because they don't like the law and they are looking for the big payout promised by all the high-priced, slick-talkin' lawyers.

[MrSandman]

22. A tactic when an election is not going favorably...

SCOTUS

[Bowline]

24. A textbook example.

The SCOTUS should have denied to hear the case and let Florida handle it's own election problems.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RoeBear]

14. I was just wondering if I could...

..respond to a deleted message.

guess so

[-..__...]

23. Maybe they just hired the right lawyer?

:eyes:

[Jack_DeLeon]

28. you mean a bunch of actors?

[-..__...]

29. "Runaway Jury"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313542/

"A juror on the inside, and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer".

Specifically, Gene Hackman as the defense lawyer for the "corrupt" gun industry.

[MrBenchley]

31. Well, they probably helped fund the idiotic

"immunity from liability" bill that Kerry and Edwards defeated...

Plus I bet they spread a lot of dough around Sacramento trying to get a state-wide version of that scummy bill introduced...

Opensecrets.org shows the execs giving a bunch to the RNC and Chimpy...

[-..__...]

35. But...

"Well, they probably helped fund the idiotic" "immunity from liability" bill that Kerry and Edwards defeated..."


according to one <cough> unnamed </cough> Gungeon "scholar", it was the "scummy" NRA that yanked the bill.

So, are Kerry and Edwards pawns of the NRA? (factual note: Edwards didn't vote on S 1805 (Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act). Kerry did however Link to roll call vote

"Plus I bet they spread a lot of dough around Sacramento trying to get a state-wide version of that scummy bill introduced..."

Guess they didn't have much luck then. Cali used to have legislation similar to S 1805. The law was repealed when the Navegar lawsuit was rightfully dismissed.

http://www.gunlawsuits.org/docket/casestatus.php?RecordNo=33

[MrBenchley]

39. Wow...what an uninformed post....

"it was the "scummy" NRA that yanked the bill."
Yup...now tell us why they did so.

[mbnd45]

36. Hey Bench,

Do you know how a beretta works, and what must happen for the gun to fire, or do you automatically assume it's defective just because you hate guns?

Chamber loaded indicators are stupid because a 14 year old is not likely to know how to determine what the indicator means. Most people who haven't read the manual won't know the difference.

Berettas come with chamber loaded indicators anyway. In addition to the indicator, there's a spring loaded plunger that blocks the firing pin until the trigger is pulled. In addition to this there's a decocking lever/manual safety that blocks the hammer from contacting the rear portion of the firing pin while simultaneously disconnecting the trigger bar from the sear. Even if the safety didn't block the hammer from contacting the rear piece of the two-piece firing pin, the plunger would block the firing pin from protruding the breech face. In other words, even with the safety off, you could throw a Beretta off of a roof top and it would not discharge.

There are defective gun designs out there, and the gun liability bill would not have given immunity to the manufacturers of these designs. Jennings and Lorcin come to mind. Under the gun liability bill, if one of these guns were to discharge without pulling the trigger (because of the lack of firing pin safeties, or poor machining of fire control parts, etc..), they could still be held liable.

Any reasonable person who was on a jury would conclude that the Beretta design is safe.

[MrBenchley]

38. Tell it to the Marines...

[mbnd45]

42. How did you become so angry

with firearms and anything having to do with them? Was a family member gunned down? Are you so consumed with hate toward people who support RKBA just because you consider it an evil right wing issue? I'm not busting balls, just curious.

[MrBenchley]

43. Years of listening to RKBA horseshit...

Between the outright dishonesty of the position and the scummy public figures associated with it, there's nothing to recommend it.

Plus everyone I've ever met personally who spouted this rubbish was a steaming asshole.

[mbnd45]

44. Fair enough. n/t

[RoeBear]

40. I wonder what R & D...

...could have come up with using the money that was wasted on lawyers?

[goju]

41. Shameless

It has to be fairly embarrassing for HCI to run 3 campaigns against a gun company and come up short on all of them. I wonder what made them think that the second and third times would be any different than the first. Maybe they were jury shopping, maybe they judge shopping, or maybe they just thought they didnt throw out terms like "pantload", "fuckwit", and "horseshit" enough? Someone wasnt doing their job, thats for sure.

[MrBenchley]

45. No reason for them to be in the least ashamed.....

They didn't leave the indicator off the gun and kill the kid....