AP National
La. Court Throws Out Gun Lawsuit

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out New
Orleans’ lawsuit aimed at forcing gun manufacturers to pay the costs of gun
violence.

In a 5-2 decision, the court upheld a state law passed to retroactively
block the lawsuit and said the city had no right to sue anyway.

New Orleans was the first local government in the nation to accuse gun
makers of selling unsafe products and creating a public nuisance.

After Mayor Marc Morial went to court in 1998, more than 30 cities and
counties around the country filed similar complaints. Dozens of states
followed the Louisiana Legislature’s lead and passed laws against such
lawsuits.

In lower-court judge in Louisiana had found the law unconstitutional.

But the state’s high court said the state and U.S. constitutions protect
private citizens — not local governments — from retroactive laws. It also
agreed with gun makers that the New Orleans lawsuit intruded on the state’s
power to regulate firearms.

Lawrence Keane, attorney for the National Shooting Sports Federation,
applauded the ruling.

”The power to regulate an industry lies with the Legislature, state or
federal — not with a particular mayor filing a lawsuit against an
industry,” he said.

In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Pascal Calogero said the city’s
lawsuit was an attempt to recover damages, not to regulate the firearms
industry.

Morial said the city’s lawyers would ask for a rehearing by the Supreme Court.

”The Supreme Court basically closed the door to victims of gun violence
and sided with the gun lobby’s bullying tactics,” he said.