"Bill targets suits against gun owners: Passage would eliminate most civil liability cases," is the headline to this front-page story this morning in the Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:
Indiana lawmakers want to grant gun owners almost complete protection from lawsuits -- an effort that has alarmed national safety groups and local advocates who say Hoosiers should be held responsible if they don't take reasonable steps to safeguard their weapons.Access the latest printing (House-passed version) of HB 1349 here. Follow the action on the bill here.House Bill 1349, which is expected to be considered today in a Senate committee, would give Indiana the most sweeping gun immunity law in the country, according to the Washington-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. * * *
This legislation seeks to undo an April 2003 Indiana Supreme Court decision in which the five justices unanimously said gun owners must safely store their firearms or could be held liable for failing to do so.
Under HB 1349, only gun owners who give their gun to someone else -- and know that the person is going to commit a crime with it -- can be held liable. * * *
In addition to providing broad immunity to gun owners, the legislation could help the gun industry fight a pending legal challenge.
[The bill's sponsor, Senator Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange], plans to ask the Senate Criminal, Civil and Public Policy Committee to add a proposal that would halt the city of Gary's lawsuit against gun manufacturers and dealers.
This would undo another Indiana Supreme Court ruling from December. Then, the court unanimously gave the go-ahead so Gary could sue gun dealers and distributors over claims that they sold handguns they knew would end up in the hands of criminals.
After the city filed its lawsuit in 1999, the General Assembly voted in 2000 to ban lawsuits by other municipalities in the state. Meeks wants to make that ban retroactive and stop the Gary lawsuit.
The gun proposals are tucked into legislation that seeks to cut down on lawsuits by prison inmates. The broad civil immunity proposal was inserted into that legislation during a late-night session of the House last week, and the bill passed that chamber 77-4.
Earlier Indiana Law Blog entries on the "April 2003 Indiana Supreme Court decision in which the five justices unanimously said gun owners must safely store their firearms or could be held liable for failing to do so" mentioned above are available (earliest first) here and here. The decision is Estate of Eryk T. Heck v. Stoffer.
The Supreme Court's December 2003 ruling allowing Gary's suit against gun dealers to proceed is City of Gary v. Smith & Wesson Corp. (12/23/03 IndSCt). The initial Indiana Law Blog entry is here, a more complete entry is here; more here.
The otherwise excellent and comprehensive Star story today unfortunately continues one error from the earlier stories by stating "After the city filed its lawsuit in 1999, the General Assembly voted in 2000 to ban lawsuits by other municipalities in the state." Is was instead a 2001 law, HEA 1043. A complete discussion of the 2001 legislation is found near the end of this earlier ILB entry.
[Note that the above links are to the old Indiana Law Blog site, and you will need to use your browser back key to return here.]
[Update] The Star's website is reporting here that "A Senate committee delayed voting on a controversial bill that would grant sweeping immunity from civil lawsuits to Hoosier gun owners."
Posted by Marcia Oddi at February 12, 2004 07:43 AM