Gun Makers Sued Over Hate Shootings

Parents of three children wounded at the North Valley Jewish Community Center one year ago today and the mother of the postman killed after the attack are suing gun makers for allegedly allowing weapons to fall into the hands of the accused gunman, Buford O. Furrow Jr.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, contends that Glock Inc. and other makers of guns in Furrow’s possession carelessly marketed and sold their weapons and share some of the blame for Joseph Ileto’s death and the attack at the Granada Hills center, which left five wounded.

Furrow, a convicted felon with a history of mental instability, should not have been allowed to build an arsenal of semiautomatic and assault-style weapons, said Joshua Horwitz, the attorney representing the families.

“It’s not good enough to let guns go out your factory door and say, ‘Sorry, we don’t know where they’re headed,’ ” said Horwitz, the executive director of the Washington-based Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence. “Companies like Glock need to make sure the retail purchaser is the end purchaser and not turn their back on the distribution of deadly weapons.”

Representatives at Glock Inc.’s U.S. office in Smyrna, Ga., could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Furrow, an avowed neo-Nazi, used a 9-millimeter Glock pistol that he bought at a pawnshop to kill Ileto in a Chatsworth driveway, authorities said.

The suit is similar to lawsuits

filed by a number of cities nationwide, including Los Angeles, that blame gun makers for alleged irresponsible distribution, Horwitz said.

But this case is different, Horwitz added, because it names specific victims of gun violence--instead of alleging harm to society measured in crime statistics or emergency room costs.

The plaintiffs in the suit are Lilian Ileto, Joseph’s mother; Loren Lieb and Alan Stepakoff, on behalf of their son, Joshua, who was shot in the leg; David and Donna Finkelstein, on behalf of their daughter Mindy Finkelstein, a 17-year-old shot in the leg; and Charles and Eleanor Kadish, whose 6-year-old son Ben was nearly killed by a bullet in the stomach. Also suing are the parents of Nathan Powers, a boy who was at the day camp when the shooting occurred.

In addition to Glock, the defendants include makers or sellers of the six other guns seized from Furrow.