When the left can’t get what it wants through the ballot box they often resort to lawfare. Gun control groups have been pushing legislation to hold gun stores liable for what is done with the weapons they sell, but have thus far failed to get any traction — thus a new tactic.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is filing a lawsuit against online retailers that allegedly sold ammunition to James Holmes, the suspect accused of the Aurora theater killings.
This is of course a ridiculous and vexatious lawsuit brought only for propaganda purposes. Ammo dealers should no more be held liable for how someone misuses their product than should a knife dealer be held responsible for stabbings where someone uses a knife purchased from them. There is no end to where this sort of loosened liability standard could lead — for instance the Boston bombers used a pressure cooker from a department store as their bomb casing. And we all know that automobiles are used as weapons quite frequently. This lawsuit is just a stab at backdoor gun control and it is an effort to normalize the ridiculous. They think if they can stay in the headlines and keep demonizing gun dealers or gun owners then eventually the tide will turn in their favor.
But for the businesses being sued the process is the punishment. It will be expensive for them to defend against even a manifestly meritless suit and there is always the chance they draw a left wing judge who is sympathetic to what the Brady Group is trying to accomplish. These sorts of suits can very easily be ruinous for the businesses entangled by them. As a small business guy myself this sort of cynical posturing that destroys everything someone has worked so hard to build is enraging.
There is no surer sign the left is losing on an issue than when they resort to trying to get the courts to effectively legislate into being a law that they cannot get enacted by more legitimate means. Sometimes this works when they have a sympathetic judge such as with our abortion laws, or when they control a government institution which they populate with people who are unwilling to defend against lawsuits as their job requires — which has happened often with the EPA where the agency will conveniently agree to a settlement that allows them to enact policies they could not otherwise enact on their own authority. We also see this with the unwillingness of several government institutions to defend laws which defend the traditional definition of marriage. I don’t like those laws but that doesn’t justify nefarious tactics like the left uses. Better to have a consensus and repeal them by legitimate means.
I guess all we can do right now is support Lucky Gunner and Bulk Ammo by purchasing from them and hope someone will take up their case pro bono. I am buying a shotgun for self-defense after a neighbor had an incident where an armed man entered his home and dragged him out of bed. I will be sure to use one of these companies to stock up on ammunition for my new purchase. I recommend you do the same so as to try to make this lawfare tactic ineffective.