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Firearms industry should bear financial liability for homicides involving handguns
March 19, 2008George Nation, professor of law and business at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., argues in the April issue of the Baylor Law Review that manufacturers of guns should be required to bear vicarious financial liability for the harm suffered by innocent bystanders who have been injured by the criminal use of their products.
"Traditionally, gun manufacturers have escaped responsibility when it comes to the criminal use of their products," says Nation. "The legal system essentially presumes that criminal activity is not to be expected and that manufacturers have no control over the use of their products."
"But with more than two million handgun-related crimes each year, and some gun advertising clearly aimed at criminal users, this traditional presumption is at odds with reality," he adds.
According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 68% of all murders reported to police in 2006 were committed with a firearm. Statistics from The Center for Disease Control sound a similar warning; the center estimated the number of gun-related homicides in the U.S. to be well over 11,000 in 2005.
High courts continue handing down contradictory rulings on the financial liability of gun manufacturers. Just in the past half year, appellate courts in Indiana and Washington, D.C. have handed down opposite decisions involving the reach of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (2005).
In the case of gun manufacturers, at stake is the future of the $2 billion firearms industry. The Second Amendment has come under particular fire this past year and is the focus of a landmark hearing today at the U.S. Supreme Court regarding gun ownership. The court has weighing the issue of gun control in Heller, which pits those that believe the number of lives lost to gun-related violence is a tragic consequence of lax gun-control laws, versus others who claim an individual Constitutional right to own and bear arms.
Nation also says that some level of criminal use is to be expected due to decisions manufacturers make concerning the design, production, marketing and distribution of their firearms.
Lehigh University
According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 68% of all murders reported to police in 2006 were committed with a firearm. Statistics from The Center for Disease Control sound a similar warning; the center estimated the number of gun-related homicides in the U.S. to be well over 11,000 in 2005.
High courts continue handing down contradictory rulings on the financial liability of gun manufacturers. Just in the past half year, appellate courts in Indiana and Washington, D.C. have handed down opposite decisions involving the reach of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (2005).
In the case of gun manufacturers, at stake is the future of the $2 billion firearms industry. The Second Amendment has come under particular fire this past year and is the focus of a landmark hearing today at the U.S. Supreme Court regarding gun ownership. The court has weighing the issue of gun control in Heller, which pits those that believe the number of lives lost to gun-related violence is a tragic consequence of lax gun-control laws, versus others who claim an individual Constitutional right to own and bear arms.
Nation also says that some level of criminal use is to be expected due to decisions manufacturers make concerning the design, production, marketing and distribution of their firearms.
Lehigh University
Firearms News and Current Firearms Events RSSFirearm suicide and homicide rates associated with level of background check
States that perform local-level background checks for firearms purchases are more effective in reducing firearm suicide and homicide rates than states that rely only on a federal-level background check, according to a new study by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Brewing a blast-less fertilizer
Down in the green, rolling hills and farmlands around Lexington, Kentucky, Darrell Taulbee can be found mixing up a batch of his homegrown fertilizer. But he's not looking to grow a better Big Boy or distill a smoother bourbon, he tells us.
Military service doubles suicide risk
Former military personnel are twice as likely to kill themselves as people who have not seen combat reports a study in the July issue of Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Guns in homes strongly associated with higher rates of suicide
In the first nationally representative study to examine the relationship between survey measures of household firearm ownership and state level rates of suicide in the U.S., researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found that suicide rates among children, women and men of all ages are higher in states where more households have guns.
States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates
Firearms are used to kill two out of every three homicide victims in America.. In the first nationally representative study to examine the relationship between survey measures of household firearm ownership and state level rates of homicide, researchers at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center found that homicide rates among children, and among women and men of all ages, are higher in states where more households have guns.
Reforms to Licensed Gun Dealer Sales Practices Reduce Supply of New Guns to Criminals
Reforms to the sales practices of a licensed gun store-which prior to May 1999, sold more than half of the guns recovered from criminals in Milwaukee-resulted in a 44 percent decrease in the flow of new guns to criminals in the city.
Human factors issues in firearms design and training
Guns are tools. Like any other tools, they can be either good or poor at achieving their purpose. In an article published in the Winter 2005 issue of Ergonomics in Design entitled "Human Factors Issues in Firearms Design and Training," the authors look at the design and operation of firearms from a human factors perspective.
Mental health problems do not explain links between handgun ownership and US suicide rates
Mental health problems do not explain the increased risk of suicide among handgun owners, concludes research in Injury Prevention.
The physics of muck spreading
Physicists have to tread carefully when it comes to fertiliser, but the first tentative steps to a better understanding of the ancient art of fertilising the soil are described in a paper published today in the Institute of Physics publication, The Journal of Measurement Science and Technology. Frederic Cointault, Philippe Sarrazin and Michel Paindavoine of the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France show how to take a snapshot of particles of fertiliser as a centrifugal spreader spits them out. Their findings could improve efficiency in the spreading of fertilisers and reduce environmental damage along field margins. It may seem a simple task load up your centrifugal spreader with fertilise
RUBBER BULLETS NOT SAFE FOR CROWD CONTROL (p 1795)
A study in this week's issue of THE LANCET which highlights the injuries sustained by Arab demonstrators after clashes with Israeli forces in 2000 concludes that rubber bullets are not a safe form of ammunition for crowd control. Rubber bullets were first used by British forces in Northern Ireland in 1970. These missiles are intended to inflict superficial painful injuries, thereby deterring demonstrators from continuing further hostile activities, while at the same time avoiding serious injuries and deaths that arise with conventional firearms. Low-velocity rubber bullets were used by Israeli police to control riots by Israeli-Arabs in early October, 2000. Michael Krausz and colleagues fro
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