Gun Liability Ruling Was Correct

Re “Gun Makers Not Liable in Crimes, State Justices Say,” Aug. 7:

Just imagine how slippery the slippery slope would have become if the California Supreme Court had not voted in favor of the gun manufacturers. Despite how one feels about the use or abuse of guns, this ruling was correct.

If it had gone the other way, all rope makers and electrical cord makers would be liable every time someone hanged himself. All babies who drown in swimming pools or bathtubs would be vindicated by the lawsuits against manufacturers. Why, even knife and fork makers would be in trouble. One would never be able to light a cigarette or candle again, since all the match and lighter makers would be out of business for all those killed or hurt in house fires or forest fires. The biggest losers, of course, would have been the alcohol and car makers whose products meant death to those intoxicated after sporting events.

It all still boils down to individual responsibility for one’s own actions, which is what the court wisely realized.

Michael L. Friedman

Torrance

Finally, our judiciary is making sense. If we hold the gun makers liable for deaths, we must then hold the automotive industry liable for the many deaths caused by reckless drivers, the alcohol producers for the thousands of annual related deaths, the kitchen knife manufacturers for all the stabbings and God only knows who else we can go after for the many violent deaths in our society created by manufacturer’s products.

Andrew J. Gero

La Crescenta