Court Ruling Backs City On Suing Gun Stores

In a decision that could prompt large cities around the country to pursue legal action against out-of-state gun dealers, a federal judge in Brooklyn yesterday wrote that he has jurisdiction to rule on a lawsuit brought by New York City against out-of-state stores that sold guns used by criminals in the city.

The decision handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein "shows that cities can hold those who cause harm to innocent people and the police who protect us accountable," Mayor Bloomberg responded in a statement.

"The City has demonstrated, with a high degree of probability, that defendants ... have been responsible for funneling into New York large quantities of handguns used by local criminals to terrorize significant portions of the city's population," Judge Weinstein wrote.

The 99-page decision means the city has cleared its first real hurdle in the case, a motion to dismiss the suit without a trial made by six of the 15 gun stores named as defendants.

In denying the motion, Judge Weinstein relied on a large trove of statistical data tracing guns used in crimes in the city back to the six stores where they were first purchased. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives provided the data to the city for use in the case.

A lawyer for the city, Eric Proshansky, said the decision is the first that specifically uses trace data to prove that a city can pursue out-of-state gun dealers.

"The city compiled a large volume of evidence to show that jurisdiction can be proved, so that could lay down a blueprint for other cities to do the same thing," Mr. Proshansky said.

A lawyer for two gun store defendants that did not file for a motion to dismiss, Jeffrey Malsch, said he had expected the decision and that it does not change the central tenets of his clients's case. The city's lawyers have "failed so far to come up with any evidence that our clients did anything wrong or contributed in any way to the damages alleged by the city," Mr. Malsch, who represents the Gun Store in Georgia and Gallery Distributing in Pennsylvania, said.

Judge Weinstein set a trial date of January 7 for the case.