Victims in a 2019 shooting at a San Diego synagogue can sue Springfield-based gunmaker Smith & Wesson because the company knew its AR15-style rifle could be modified into a machine-gun-like or assault weapon in violation of California law, according to a ruling released this week.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Medel also said plaintiffs can go ahead and argue that Smith & Wesson, the nation’s largest gunmaker, was negligent when it marketed the rifle with video-game-style ads tailored for young people.
The court ruling is available here.
Those ads are illegal under California’s unfair business practices law, according to The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence which sued on behalf of the plaintiffs. The ads are attractive to customers like the shooter — young men predisposed to violence.
Medel also allowed a suit against the gun retailer to proceed because the shooter who bought the rifle, 19-year-old John Earnest, lacked the hunting license that would have exempted him from California’s 21-year-age-limit, according to a reports in the San Francisco Chronicle and Associated Press.
The judge ruled that federal laws meant to shield gunmakers from liability don’t apply in this case.
Smith & Wesson didn’t respond Friday to calls for comment.
The company also faces other lawsuits. New Jersey sued Smith & Wesson in December saying its marketing depicts things that are not legal in real life and ignores the strict gun laws of the Garden State.
The lawsuit is thought to be an innovative approach at getting around federal laws shielding gunmakers like Smith & Wesson.
In Canada, judges there have said victims in a 2018 Toronto shooting have a viable claim.
In the San Diego shooting, Earnest, a nursing student, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle during the last day of Passover services at Chabad of Poway Synagogue in April 2019, the Associated Press said.
He killed 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye and wounded three others, including an 8-year-old girl and the rabbi, who lost a finger.
Earnest then allegedly called 911 to say he had shot up a synagogue because Jews were trying to “destroy all white people,” authorities said.
Wednesday’s ruling is a victory for “all Americans who believe that the gun industry is not above the law,” said Jon Lowy, chief counsel for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which sued on behalf of the victims.
Jon Lowy, chief counsel for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which sued on behalf of the victims, called the ruling a victory for “all Americans who believe that the gun industry is not above the law.”
The suit seeks monetary relief and an injunction demanding that all parties reform their business practices, according to Brady.
Last month, Smith & Wesson announced what it said was the most successful year in the 169-year history of the company as it more than doubled its sales during the fiscal year that ended in April.
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