MORE CORRUPT THAN I THOUGHT

“If it is not independent, it is not worthy of trust. Investigations have to have integrity and they have to have fairness. If they don’t have that, they are not dependable for anyone.”    John Dowd, Former MLB Special Council

Since Angela Dales’ murder at the Appalachian School of Law on January 16, 2002, we, as a nation, appeared to have lowered our standards so much that it is relatively easy for people with low intellect, little character, and a healthy dose of incompetence to buy the people we have put our trust in—our politicians, lawyers, and judges. When I did my research for this chapter the magnitude of the dishonesty and corruption hit me like a kick in the stomach. The situation is stunningly distressing.

VICTIMIZING THE VICTIMS

Just when you think the gun manufacturers and National Rifle Association (NRA) have sunk about as low as they can go, they come up with something even more outrageous: Make dead victims’ families pay court costs of any legal action.

The gun makers and NRA have long engaged in nefarious lobbying activity that has undercut public safety. Now they have persuaded politicians to adopt laws making the victims of gun violence pay the legal fees for challenging what appears to be their self-proclaimed, sacrosanct position above the law.

In September 2014, the Brady Center announced a lawsuit on behalf of Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, accusing Web site companies of negligence for selling weapons to the Aurora, Colorado theater shooter, James Holmes. The Phillips daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was killed in the shooting. The lawsuit charged the companies with negligence for selling weapons (including ammunition, body armor, tear gas and other equipment used in this assault) to someone as obviously unstable as Holmes. Holmes ended up killing 12 and wounding 70 others on July 20, 2012 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch of the District of Colorado dismissed the Phillips’ suit against four Web sites because Colorado and federal laws shield firearms and ammunition sellers from liability based on a customer’s wrongful acts. Phillips et al. v. Lucky Gunner LLC et al., No. 14–cv–02822, 2015 WL 1499382 (D. Colo. Mar. 27, 2015).

Both federal and Colorado laws protect gun makers and sellers from being held responsible for selling arms to people who are a danger to themselves and others. Colorado, however, has taken this a step further, requiring plaintiffs to pay the court costs of the gun makers and sellers.

Lucky Gunner and Sportsman Guide (two of the companies selling to Holmes) have already filed motions for $220,000 in legal costs. According to press reports, another arms dealer, BTP Arms, wants $33,000. BTP Arms request will probably fail because the law does not cover the two tear gas grenades Holmes bought from BTP Arms, nor does the law cover the four pieces of body armor he bought from bulletproofbodyarmorhq.com.

The Phillips’ lawsuit underscores the reality that the average citizen is nearly helpless in the face of the wealth and power of the NRA, gun manufacturers, and gun sellers. The Phillips’ lawsuit is a shocking example of just how disadvantaged the average citizen is. The average citizen has virtually no recourse against the power elite—weapons manufacturers and the gun lobby.  (To be continued)