by Dave Workman
Senior Editor

Another municipal lawsuit against the firearms industry, this one filed in Washington, DC, has been dismissed by a Superior Court judge on the grounds that the “causes of action are facially insufficient as a matter of law.”

The ruling was immediately hailed by gun rights activists and the firearms industry, but panned by Dennis Hennigan, legal director at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control Inc.), who has been aiding many of the cities involved in a string of some 30 gun industry suits.

Judge Cheryl M. Long said in her opinion that the plaintiffs did not come close in presenting their causes of action. The city had been seeking financial compensation from gunmakers for the “economic impact” gun violence has had in the nation’s capital.

But Long wrote in her 103-page opinion that the city’s case was “burdened with many layers of legal deficiencies.” She said the lawsuit was fundamentally flawed, and rejected the city’s contention that the gun industry is a “public nuisance.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) applauded the ruling, noting in a press release, “Another one bites the dust.”

NSSF was alluding to a string of similar lawsuits that have been thrown out by the courts in several states. In many of those cases, NSSF has been a defendant.

Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), told Gun Week, “Lawsuits against gunmakers will not make violent crime go away. Taking gunmakers to court does nothing to deter violent criminals. Municipal lawsuits like the one filed by Washington, DC, attempt to punish an industry in a legal system that has not been terribly effective at punishing criminals.”

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, was quoted by The Washington Post as noting that Long’s decision was “a big victory for the integrity of our legal system.” He said municipal lawsuits against the industry are “a flagrant abuse” of the courts.

Hennigan, the Brady Campaign lawyer, lamented the ruling. Trying to take a positive position, he noted that several municipal lawsuits that have lost in the lower courts are now on appeal.

However, there was no mention of the cases that have been crushed in state and federal appeals courts, including the New Orleans lawsuit, which was rejected by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Twenty-five companies had been named in the DC lawsuit. The city may appeal the ruling, but Gottlieb had a more novel suggestion to reduce crime costs: Scrap the District’s handgun ban.

“If the city really wants to reduce its crime problem,” Gottlieb said, “it needs to allow its law-abiding residents the means with which to defend themselves. That can only happen if the ban on handguns, which has proven to be worthless as a crime-fighting measure, is scrapped.”

The District handgun ban has been in effect for a generation, and during that time, violent crime rates have soared.