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On suing gun manufacturers [View all]
Legally to sue you must have:
cause of action
n. the basis of a lawsuit founded on legal grounds and alleged facts which, if proved, would constitute all the "elements" required by statute.
It has been said that anyone can sue anyone for anything. You can hire an attorney to file and argue for you. To be successful the court with jurisdiction must accept your case.
n. the basis of a lawsuit founded on legal grounds and alleged facts which, if proved, would constitute all the "elements" required by statute.
Examples: to have a cause of action for breach of contract there must have been an offer of acceptance;
This doesn't fit gun makers since the general public has no contract with them.
...for a tort (civil wrong) there must have been negligence or intentional wrongdoing and failure to perform;
This is where many start. Some take the negligent entrustment route; plaintiffs would need to prove that the sale or transfer was negligent and should not have taken place. These generally don't proceed as proving that is extremely difficult.
In the cases of assault and murder there is wrongdoing but not on the part of the manufacturer.
...for libel there must have been an untruth published which is particularly harmful;
Also not related to guns.
...and in all cases there must be a connection between the acts of the defendant and damages.
In the case of gun violence the only connection between the damages (assault and murder) and the manufacturer are that their guns were used. Makers and sellers of items intrinsically necessary to a crime who are not party to the criminal acts can not be held libel. Has anyone tried suing the vehicle manufacturers where a vehicle was used by a terrorist in an attack? Of course not.
In many lawsuits there are several causes of action stated separately, such as fraud, breach of contract, and debt, or negligence and intentional destruction of property.
You may hate guns.
You may hate people who own guns.
You may hate those make and sell guns.
Hate isn't a cause of action.
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