NCJ Number
160197
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
An effective measure to reduce gun violence would be to regulate the production of guns and hold gun manufacturers liable for injuries sustained from their products.
Abstract
Product liability litigation has played an important role in restricting the firearms industry and in shaping firearms policy. Most successful cases have addressed specific defects in design or manufacture. Cases have also been brought, particularly against handgun makers, on the premise that the products involved are inherently and unreasonably dangerous, even if no specific design defect exists. It has been argued that manufacturers should therefore be held liable for all injuries caused by these guns. Only one such case has been successful, but it had a major impact. In Kelley v. R.G. Industries, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that such liability did exist for the manufacturers and distributors of Saturday Night Specials. This decision, coupled with earlier defective product verdicts against R.G. Industries, put the company out of business. At the time, it was the largest U.S. assembler of these handguns from foreign parts. Moreover, the Kelley decision led directly to the establishment in Maryland of a Handgun Review Board, which has prohibited the manufacture and sale of such handguns in Maryland. Among the expected benefits of a products liability approach to guns are a reduction in the easy availability of firearms generally and the elimination of targeted classes of firearms from circulation.