The San Diego County Superior Court has ruled in favor of Smith & Wesson, Inc., granting summary judgment under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The decision absolves the firearm manufacturer of liability in the 2019 shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue.
In that shooting, a 60-year-old woman, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, was killed when she attempted to shield the rabbi from the attacker. The rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein, 57 at the time, and two others synagogue-goers, Almog Peretz, 34, and his niece, Noya Dahan, 8, suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds. The 19-year-old shooter, a human piece of garbage whose name is not worth ever mentioning, is serving multiple life sentences in a California prison. While investigaging the crimes, police found a manifesto posted online by the shooter (Why do these whack jobs always feel compelled to pen a manifesto?) full of anti-Semetic and anti-Muslim remarks.
The court determined that Smith & Wesson could not be held responsible for the actions of a deranged racist who used one of their firearms in the tragic attack. The PLCAA, enacted in 2005, protects firearm manufacturers and sellers from lawsuits attempting to assign blame for crimes committed with their products when sold lawfully.
“We are heartened by the court’s decision today correctly interpreting the PLCAA and ruling in favor of Smith & Wesson, Inc.,” said Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the NSSF. “The criminal liability for the horrific actions of a murderer are the sole responsibility of that individual.”
The lawsuit alleged that Smith & Wesson bore responsibility because its firearm could be illegally modified and that its marketing materials influenced the attacker. The court found these claims lacked legal merit.
The NSSF supported Smith & Wesson throughout the case, filing an amicus brief advocating for the PLCAA’s protections.
The shooter, convicted in both state and federal courts, received life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus additional penalties.
The PLCAA was signed into law with bipartisan support and has since been upheld as constitutional in multiple federal cases. The law was introduced to shield the firearm industry from lawsuits targeting lawful businesses for the criminal actions of others.
I’m glad these Jews were stopped with their gun control agenda.
To the best of my knowledge the rifle used in the shooting was a box stock M&P15. What exactly are the modifications the plaintiffs are claiming were done or could have been done that contributed to the shooting that day?
Probably De-Californiaing it.
He only got off 8 shots and then ran off and called 911 on himself. Unfortunately for the free world he will have it pretty easy in prison as long as he can keep the anti Muslim rhetoric to himself.
Wait! He spews anti-muslim rhetoric, and he shot up a synagogue?
Trying to figure crazy?
He disliked bit Muslims and Jews. He just got around to shooting some Jews first.
Cali will be the first state to empty out all of its prisons at the first sign of the next pandemic.
Surprise!
I nearly forgot to mention that the killer in this case was using California legal 10rd magazines just like the killer in the number 3 highest body count mass shooting in Virginia back in 2007.
Officer Bill,
Every time people obsess on the alleged “lethality” of an AR-15 rifle, I want to direct them to other possibilities which are equally lethal.
Consider spree killers who want to rack up a high body count. A lever-action rifle chambered in .44 Magnum and stout cartridges with 305 grain hardcast bullets in a crowded venue could easily impart fatal wounds in four people with each bullet. If the tube magazine holds eight cartridges, that spree killer could murder 32 people without even having to reload. Would that spur civilian disarmament advocates to clamor for bans on lever-action rifles whose design is over 150 years old?
Rather than debate civilian disarmament advocates on any given firearm platform, we should acknowledge that a spree killer can murder dozens of people with a multitude of methods, only a few of which involve firearms. And, that being the case, we should be debating how to be able to immediately incapacitate spree killers rather than trying to eliminate their access to the unlimited supply of items which they can misuse.
The 5.56×45 ain’t all that much. Coyote hunters prefer the .243Win or 22-250, 25-06 . To remember, the 5.56 started out as a small game varmint round .222, ‘small game’. The woodchuckers and crow killers dream.
…I have killed deer, and Killdeer with a .223, the .223 did a fantastic job dispatching a small bird but wasn’t as much as of a spectacular preformer on “varmints” weighing over 120lbs, just as is the .243 on deer compared to coyotes.
Paddocks round per kill ratio wasn’t really that good. To think of the carnage he might have inflicted with a .308 had he chose that configuration.
5.56×45 or .223 in the right platform is a tack driver no doubt, however it is not a death ray.
Just in case your calling bullshit. I have dropped a doe deer at 549 yards with a Mini14, she fell down got back up and we never found her, the coyotes did I’m sure.
In my opinion, and I’m very opinionated, the 9mm Luger and 5.56×45 are over exaggerated.
There is a secret government push for these calibers and there is also a reason why.
Nobody wants to stand in front of a .416 Rigby, 4 A level kevlar or not.
It’s sad we need legislation to force people to have common sense.
It’s not a lack of common sense that is the problem Tyrannical politicians, judges and shyster lawyers are the problem.
No, its lack of common sense and dependence on Mr. Big to fix it.
What is the USA’s constitution really. Is it dependent on what a judge declares or what We The People demand.
We The People need to quit dealing with what a court rules.
Court rules and judges are tyrannical in nature.
“I am the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz.”
The highest body count mass killings in the US in the past 100 or so years were not done with a firearm at all. Aircraft, fertilizer mixed with diesel, and a small can of gasoline are the top 3 killers in the US.
Blaming the firearms manufacturer for how someone used their product. Talk about deranged!
“attempted to shield the rabbi from the attacker” – Nobel gesture I suppose, but why is a older woman shielding a younger man/leader of the community? Who apparently was (Stupidly) not armed to protect his flock?
Interesting – h ttps://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/rabbi-yisroel-goldstein-sentenced-to-prison-for-multi-million-dollar-fraud-schemes
Well well well how about that.
Circumsizer’s get paid in tips.
I find it interesting that S&W elected to keep the case in the state court system. It would have had a right to remove the case to federal district court, but by staying in the state system it avoids the notorious Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
I’m really happy we aren’t mentioning the names of the evil scum that commit these acts. Let them fade into obscurity and go to Hell anonymously.
Damnatio memorie.
Let there be a perp shaped hole in our history.
Did someone hired their bagel-baker’s idiot nephew with a law degree as their attorney forgetting firearms manufacturers are rightfully protected or was the plaintiff represented by BoomBOIG’s in-house shysters ……. Smith & Wesson must bankrupt these greedy shekel-grabbers, take every last asset.
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