Gun-Rights Group Sues Mayors

Firing the latest volley in the handgun wars, a gun-rights group Tuesday sued the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the mayors of 23 cities, including Los Angeles, accusing them of violating the rights of gun consumers by trying to drive manufacturers out of business.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the Second Amendment Foundation said legal defense costs already have forced some firearms makers to raise prices or terminate sales, threatening the constitutional right of consumers to bear arms and defend themselves. It seeks unspecified damages.

The gun-rights group, which claims 550,000 members, first threatened to drag the cities into court nearly a year ago when only New Orleans and Chicago had sued the industry. Despite the threat, 23 cities and six counties have joined the assault.

The complaint comes as representatives of the cities and the industry prepare to meet for a second time to explore prospects for an out-of-court settlement.

Lawyers for the cities were dismissive about the latest salvo, saying it won’t stop their suits from going forward.

“I think this case should be easy to knock out,” Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn said.

Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue, Wash.-based foundation, described it as a “100% grass-roots organization” that is financing the suit with individual donations.

Both he and Robert Delfay, head of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a leading manufacturers group, said gun makers aren’t involved in the case.

“Not having seen it, I don’t know if we’re pleased or displeased,” Delfay said.

Not named in the complaint are six counties with anti-gun suits, including Los Angeles, Alameda, and San Mateo. Because the suit contends the mayors conspired with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to cripple the handgun industry, it omits the counties, which are not members of the conference.

However, some mayors named in the suit have had little or no involvement in their cities’ anti-gun cases, which were filed instead by elected city attorneys, such as Hahn and San Francisco City Atty. Louise Renne. It will be “news to Mayor Richard Riordan and Willie Brown that they were conspiring with anybody to bring these lawsuits,” Hahn said.

A spokeswoman said Riordan had not seen the lawsuit, which also named the mayors of Compton, West Hollywood and Inglewood.

Gottlieb described the suit as “basically a civil-rights action on behalf of consumers. . . . The underlying theme is . . . [the cities] are trying to use the courts to legislate, because they couldn’t get the state legislatures or Congress to pass the laws they wanted.”

Due partly to financial strain induced by the wave of lawsuits, pistol maker Davis Industries of Chino last spring filed for bankruptcy protection, while another Southland producer, Lorcin Engineering of Mira Loma, recently announced its closure. And in October, Colt’s Manufacturing Co., a storied name in the firearms trade, said it would stop production of some of its less profitable models due to litigation costs.

The cities are demanding reimbursement for costs of responding to gun violence. They also are trying to force manufacturers to reduce risks of accidental shootings and police dealers to reduce sales to gun traffickers.

Lawyers for the cities presented a settlement blueprint to industry representatives at a Sept. 27 meeting in Washington that was also attended by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer and Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal, who have threatened to sue.

A second meeting is scheduled for next week, and while some participants have chafed at the slow pace of the talks, one said they are “clearly going in the right direction.”

Among other things, the cities want a deadline for all handguns to incorporate safety features that would prevent children from being accidentally shot and criminals from firing stolen guns. They also want the industry to cut off supplies to firearms dealers who frequently show up in tracing data as the source of guns used in crimes.