Brooklyn Jury Decision Proper, NOW Judge Needs to Concur, Says SAF

5/14/2003

From: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation, 425-454-7012; web: http://www.saf.org

BELLEVUE, Wash., May 14 -- A federal court jury advisory verdict that gun makers and distributors are not responsible for gun violence in the minority community was proper, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) said today.

"Now," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, "U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein, who had placed the jury in an advisory role, needs to heed their advice and rule in favor of all the defendants in this frivolous lawsuit."

While the jury cleared 45 firearms manufacturers and distributors, the panel could not reach a verdict relating to 23 other defendants, according to the Associated Press. The lawsuit was filed by the NAACP against 68 defendants, claiming that the industry knew corrupt dealers were supplying guns to criminals in minority communities, and took no steps to stop them. Judge Weinstein will allow NAACP and industry attorneys to submit written arguments interpreting the verdict. Gottlieb said there should be no reason for Weinstein to labor over a final ruling.

"The jury heard more than five weeks of testimony, and deliberated for five days. Their decision should be a signal to Judge Weinstein to exonerate the industry," Gottlieb stated. "Among the more ludicrous goals of the NAACP lawsuit was to impose a limit of one handgun per month on sales to individuals. The problem with this is that evidence revealed a large number of crime guns seized in New York, where the trial occurred, came from Virginia, a state that has imposed a one-gun-a-month restriction for several years.

"In the final analysis," Gottlieb added, "even the NAACP's so-called 'star' witness, attorney Robert Ricker, apparently couldn't convince the jury. This case, if nothing else, further discredits Ricker as an industry 'whistle-blower' and places in further doubt all the other pending anti-gun lawsuits around the country, and for good reason. The charges and evidence aren't credible.

"Judge Weinstein can now exercise some much-needed judicial wisdom and bring this travesty to a conclusion," Gottlieb stated.

The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, Conn.; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers & an amicus brief & fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.