Illinois appeals court upholds public nuisance claim in gun case.In the first such ruling in the country, an Illinois appeals court has upheld public nuisance public nuisance n. a nuisance which affects numerous members of the public or the public at large, as distinguished from a nuisance which only does harm to a neighbor or a few private individuals. claims filed by victims of gun violence against firearms This is an extensive list of small arms — pistol, machine gun, grenade launcher, anti-tank rifle — that includes variants. : Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
"It's a stunning defeat of the gun industry," said Dennis Henigan, director of the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. The defendant gunmakers have filed a petition for a rehearing rehearing n. conducting a hearing again based on the motion of one of the parties to a lawsuit, petition or criminal prosecution, usually by the court or agency which originally heard the matter. . The appellate decision encompasses three lawsuits consolidated for the purpose of the appeal. The ruling allows plaintiffs to proceed against gun industry defendants on a common law theory of public nuisance, a claim often included in pollution cases. The theory could prove more successful for plaintiffs than past attempts to hold gunmakers accountable through negligence or products liability claims. The plaintiffs, the surviving relatives of five victims fatally fa·tal·ly adv. 1. So as to cause death; mortally: fatally injured. 2. So as to result in disaster or ruin. 3. According to the decree of fate; inevitably. Adv. 1. shot by juveniles with access to handguns, filed a public nuisance claim against 18 firearms manufacturers and distributors. Citing the accessibility of guns to juveniles in Chicago, they claimed that the industry's marketing and distribution tactics interfere with people's right to use the streets and other public places without fear and undue risk of injury. The defendants argued that public nuisance law does not apply to the lawful commercial distribution of a product. But the appeals court ruled there was a basis for the plaintiffs' complaints to stand. "In our view, contrary to defendants' claims that they have no power to abate abate v. to do away with a problem, such as a public or private nuisance or some structure built contrary to public policy. This can include dikes which illegally direct water onto a neighbors property, high volume noise from a rock band or a factory, an improvement the nuisance due to lack of control, the complaints connote con·note tr.v. con·not·ed, con·not·ing, con·notes 1. To suggest or imply in addition to literal meaning: "The term 'liberal arts' connotes a certain elevation above utilitarian concerns" that defendants have the power to control the purposeful pur·pose·ful adj. 1. Having a purpose; intentional: a purposeful musician. 2. Having or manifesting purpose; determined: entered the room with a purposeful look. creation and maintenance of an illegal secondary market by oversupplying the areas around Chicago with handguns," the court wrote. Plaintiff lawyer Jonathan Baum of Chicago denied that plaintiff advocates are trying to shut down the gun industry. "We want [manufacturers and distributors] to behave in a responsible fashion given the product they sell and what happens to that product," he said. |
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