Guilt By Tangential Association
By Mitch Berg
Brandon Herrera is one of my favorite Guntubers.
I watch him mainly for his detailed, frequently off-color, mostly hilarious, and technically interesting gun takedown vids. He’s sort of like Ian McCallum, only gleefully NSFW.
This clip – going over a lawsuit by one of the victims of a (thankfully) failed mass murder attempt against a long list of gun and accessory companies whose products weren’ t involved in the incident – is worth a watch.
Again – language exuberantly NSFW.
The interesting part is at the end; Herrera challenges the defendants to not settle this specious, frivolous lawsuit out of court, and the viewer to hold them accountable if they do.
I’m going to try to find the list (and the current status of the case).
January 15th, 2024 at 6:45 am
Gun lawfare, rhetoric, and precedents never fail to piss me off.
Anti-gunners consistently claim that gun and gun accessory manufacturers get special protection in court. That’s not true. If anything, it’s the opposite. Cases against the manufacturers may get tossed (instead of will get tossed) unless the plaintiffs allege the product was defective. Suing the manufacturer because a third party, ie the assailant, used the product illegally. You can’t sue Toro and American Rope & Chain, as well as Menards, because your pissed off ex-wife tied you down and tried kill you with a push lawn mower. You don’t even get a loop-hole if the Toro commercial urged you to “Take control of your life and cut your problems down to size.” That lawsuit won’t be taken on Contingency by any decent lawyer, much less pro-bono by an activist lawyer, and if you actually waste your money paying a lawyer that will file the Case, it’ll get tossed and you’ll probably be counter-sued by all three.
In the Firearms Industry, as shown by the Case Mitch is talking about, manufactures who’s products weren’t even used by a criminal can get sued and have to spend lots of money defending themselves.
I’d go further than Mitch. Not only should these unrelated companies not settle, they should sue the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs’ lawyers for harassment and a frivolous lawsuit. I assume that the plaintiffs’ lawyers aren’t billing the plaintiffs by the hour, and even lawyers lose legal protection if they are abusing the legal infrastructure. I also assume that there was a bit of forum shopping to find a “sympathetic” judge that wouldn’t just toss this Case, so while I hope, I’m not holding my breathe.
January 15th, 2024 at 8:00 am
Sooooo, if one follows this trail to its logical end, could the Russians, Houthi’s and Gazans sue the makers of the missiles, drones, artillery shells and bullets that fly in their direction?
Hmmmmm, it might be worth not chasing an ambulance or two to find out.