Posted 9/10/2004 04:44:00 PM by Douglas

So the anti-gun nuts at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence sued a pawn shop and the manufacturer in the case of the D.C. area sniper of 2002, and they settled today for $2.5 Million.

The company that made the Bushmaster rifle used in the Washington-area sniper killings and a gun shop that lost track of the firearm agreed to pay $2.5 million to victims in what lawyers said on Thursday was an unprecedented settlement.

The payout for eight victims of the October 2002 shootings was the first of its kind by a gun manufacturer accused of negligent distribution of firearms, said Daniel Vice, an attorney with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of the victims.

What kind of pawn shop is going to be able to pay a $2 Million settlement? Why doesn't the Brady Center just come out and say it: They want to bankrupt anyone that makes or sells guns.

It wasn't about money. It was about making a statement that you have to be responsible in the way you carry on your business, if you are going to sell such lethal weapons to the general public."

Well then I guess it really was about money. The message is if you're an idiot with an FFL and you "lose" a firearm, you're going to pay out the nose. It's all about the money. But what about Bushmaster? They didn't do anything wrong, did they? From all indication, they sold their product to a federally licensed dealer, who presumably met the requirements of a firearm dealer. Why are they on the hook for half a million bucks?

We felt the compassionate thing to do was give it to the victims’ families, not because we had to but because we wanted to. The Washington DC Brady Group should learn what compassion is really all about!

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but most companies don't just give out half a million dollars out of altruistic compassion. But I'm sleeping better knowing that none of their money went to the legal fees of the Brady Center.