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Another gun manufacturer lawsuit bites the dust

Via David Kopel, at the Volokh Conspiracy--the Florida Court of Appeals has shot down Grunow v. Valour Corporation.

Facts: a student took a gun from his grandfather (who had inherited it, from a lawful purchaser) and murdered a teacher. Eleven years had passed between the original, legal, sale, and the homicide. The manufacturer had since gone out of business, so the plaintiff sued the distributor. After a ten week trial (how any civil PI trial could last ten weeks is beyond me) the jury found the wholesaler liable on a theory that it had not transferred the gun with "feasible safety measures." It held the wholesaler liable for 5% of the loss.

The Court of Appeals, citing earlier caselaw, held the distributor not liable. " We certainly sympathize with Grunow and recognize the tragedy of the events that transpired. However, it was Brazill, his grandfather, and perhaps the school that were liable, not Valor. "

· Gun manufacturer liability