Philadelphia Mother's Lawsuit Against Reckless Gun Dealer Gets Green Light For Trial, Says Brady Campaign 2/2/2004
From: Rob Wilcox of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence United with the Million Mom March, 202-898-0792 WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 -- After years of legal wrangling, a young mother's case against a reckless gun dealer cleared its final legal hurdle in a court ruling late last week. Now, it faces only political hurdles before going to a jury. Tennille Jefferson's suit, stemming from the shooting death of her seven-year-old son Nafis in South Philadelphia on April 19, 1999, alleges that Sauers Trading of Williamsport, Pennsylvania repeatedly sold guns to a drug-addicted gun trafficker that quickly made their way to the streets of Philadelphia. The January 29 ruling by Philadelphia Judge Nitza Quiqones Alejandro rejected Sauers' motion for summary judgment and clears the case for trial on April 5. Although Jefferson's case is now scheduled to go before a Philadelphia jury, sweeping federal legislation sponsored by Pennsylvania Senators Santorum and Specter and 53 other Senators threatens to block a trial and prevent a jury from ever hearing the case. The bill, S. 659, would grant sweeping immunity to negligent and reckless gun sellers and manufacturers, banning nearly all suits against them in all state and federal courts and dismissing pending cases. The gun seller immunity legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives last April and is scheduled for a vote on March 3rd, just weeks before Mrs. Jefferson's case is set to begin. President Bush has stated that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. The immunity legislation overturns Pennsylvania law and the laws of 43 other states that currently allow gun victims to sue negligent gun sellers. The bill would give special protections to the gun industry that have never been granted to any other industry. Tennille Jefferson traveled to Washington, D.C. last year to meet with her Senators to discuss her son's death and their sponsorship of the gun seller immunity legislation, however Senators Santorum and Specter both refused written requests for a meeting. "My son Nafis was seven years old, I want justice for my family" explained Tennille Jefferson. "But some in Congress want my case dismissed. My son and other children deserve better than that." Jefferson is represented by attorneys with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and by Mark J. LeWinter, Esq. of the Philadelphia firm Anapol, Schwartz, Weiss, Cohan, Feldman and Smalley. Brady Center Staff Attorney Daniel R. Vice stated, "This is a classic case of reckless actions by a gun dealer causing the avoidable death of an innocent boy. Senators Santorum and Specter should withdraw their support for federal gun seller immunity legislation and allow Tennille Jefferson's case to go to trial." Nafis Jefferson was shot and killed when a young boy found a gun on the street that had been trafficked by Perry Bruce from Williamsport to Philadelphia. The case alleges that Sauers Trading repeatedly sold handguns to trafficker Perry Bruce despite obvious indicators that he was trafficking guns. Bruce showed a welfare I.D. card for identification yet paid thousands of dollars in cash for ten guns. Bruce testified in a pre-trial deposition that he was high on marijuana each time that he bought guns from Sauers. Bruce testified that Sauers "had to know what I was doing," and said that on at least one occasion Sauers asked Bruce to wait until all his other customers left before selling guns to Bruce. Court records shows that Sauers sold at least 41 guns to six gun traffickers between 1993 and 1999. Since 1989, the Brady Center's Legal Action Project has pioneered innovative legal theories of liability against gun manufacturers and sellers in an effort to reform the industry. The Project provides free legal representation to victims of gun violence as well as to the cities and counties that have filed lawsuits against the gun industry. Through its groundbreaking legal work, the Project's goal is to compel the gun industry to change its irresponsible business practices that contribute to the shameful level of gun violence in this country. For more information about this lawsuit, other litigation against the gun industry, and efforts to reform the gun industry, visit the Legal Action Project's web site at http://www.gunlawsuits.org. ------ The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a national non- profit organization working to reduce the tragic toll of gun violence in America through education, research and legal advocacy. Through its Legal Action Project, the Brady Center provides pro bono legal assistance to gun violence victims and public entities seeking to establish legal principles that will reduce gun violence. The programs of the Brady Center complement the legislative and grassroots mobilization efforts of its sister organizations, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Million Mom March. |