Aurora victim's stepfather blasts Sanders over gun views

[RandySF]

Lonnie Phillips is filing for bankruptcy because he owes $203,000 to the company that sold his stepdaughter’s killer 4,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet.

A federal judge threw out his lawsuit against Lucky Gunner, and now the Phillips family must pay its legal fees under Colorado law.

As the Democratic primary race turns to New York, where the gun issue looms large, Clinton will seize upon their story and those like it. The Phillips’ daughter, Jessica Ghawi, died in the 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.
Lucky Gunner was shielded from prosecution under a 2005 law that grants gun makers and sellers immunity from prosecution for crimes committed with their products. Sanders voted for the law, though he’s recently wavered over whether he supports it.

“We don’t have that much money to pay them, and they can take our house,” Phillips told USA TODAY. “Right now we’re living in a trailer traveling and speaking around the country trying to get people to understand how egregious this law is.”

“I don’t think he had any idea of the repercussions this law would cause,” Phillips said of Sanders. “I would like Bernie Sanders to at least apologize to us for the heartache this has caused.”


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/04/07/bernie-sanders-guns-aurora/82721118/

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

1. They should sue the lawyer...

What law firm gave them such terrible advice to try and sue

[msanthrope]

2. Special protective laws for gun manufacturers. Disgusting. nt

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

3. They can be sued for faulty products

They can't be sued for legally selling their product to legal citizens.

[msanthrope]

5. the tobacco companies used to think that too.

[frylock]

9. The tobacco companies lied and withheld data.

But you knew that already.

[msanthrope]

10. You think the gun manufacturers and the NRA aren't doing the same? nt

[frylock]

11. In what regard? By stating that their product isn't killing people?

[msanthrope]

15. I think your defense of the gun industry is....odd. I think the NAACP

was right in their lawsuit, and I think that Bernie's vote in the protective federal legislation that followed---the PLCAA, was wrong.

the NRA vs. the NAACP.

I know who'd I pick.

[frylock]

17. I'm defending common sense.

Suing companies for negligent use of their product is ridiculous.

[msanthrope]

20. Yeah....thats not what the NAACP sued under. nt

[frylock]

21. Are we talking PLCAA or not?

[msanthrope]

22. Yes. PLCAA did more than just stop 'negligence' suits.

Understand that PLCAA stopped the ability of communities to address gun violence. It stopped the NAACP suit dead.

You know....there's a price to be paid when you go against the NAACP in such a way. People have long memories. I mean, you can march with someone decades ago. But when you vote to cripple civil rights lawsuits, leaders of those organizations don't forget.

[RandySF]

4. Yep

The more accurate title would have been "Bernie's Immunity Law Bankrupts Family of Shooting Victim".

[Lizzie Poppet]

6. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

This guy, who I'll assume had his judgement impaired by grief, was insufficiently selective in picking a law firm, followed its incompetent advice, got fucked over, and thus thinks Bernie owes him an apology? For backing a law intended to prevent the very sort of nuisance lawsuits he filed?

Bernie owes you nothing, Mr. Phillips.

[RandySF]

7. More victim blaming

Because, you know, the Bern, man.

[Lizzie Poppet]

8. Pure. Comedy. Gold.

Bernie Sanders could not even exist and I'd still be criticizing stupid, monetize-your-grief lawsuits.

Just so you know...

[Dem2]

12. Enough!!

These stupid "guns" and "blasts" headlines are vile and insensitive.

[Prism]

13. If people hate this law so much, why not create a kickstarter for this family?

Why is no one putting their money where their mouth is?

This lawsuit was stupid, stupid, stupid, and plenty of people knew so beforehand, and yet people let this grief-stricken family press ahead because it suited their political agenda.

And now that the predictable end has come, this family is being left to twist.

Very compassionate.

People can raise $200,000 on kickstarter for hot sauce, but all these concerned citizens can't help this family pay off their self-inflicted debt?

Uh huh. Seems to me that people find these poor peoples' bankruptcy politically useful and are thus doing nothing to ameliorate it.

[Jitter65]

16. Maybe now that they know about it, they will. I'm in! nt

[Prism]

19. This story has been out there for at least six months

And all these "deeply concerned" people have done jack and shit for this family.

[sadoldgirl]

14. I'll wait for her to make her anti-gun pitch

here in western Colorado,

but I know that she would not dare to do it.

[CorkySt.Clair]

18. Hope he's not on social media

Sanders supporters will savage him for speaking out against Saint Bernie.

[jmg257]

23. $200K?? Sheesh - bad legal advice from the Brady Group. Poor guy knew better but went ahead anyway

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lonnie-and-sandy-phillips/lucky-gunner-lawsuit_b_8197804.html
...
Attorneys at Arnold and Porter and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence brought the lawsuit for us, pro bono. We knew the risks of bringing the case. We knew that Colorado and Congress have given special protection of the gun industry, and we knew that under Colorado law we could even be ordered to pay attorneys’ fees because of those special protections.

But we thought it was important to take a stand, to fight to prevent other families from suffering as we have. We did not seek any money in our case. We just wanted injunctive relief — to have these companies act reasonably when they sold dangerous materiel, like 100-round ammunition magazines, ammunition, body armor, and tear gas.
...
The judge dismissed our case because, he said, these online sellers had special immunity from the general duty to use reasonable care under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and a Colorado immunity law. If you couple the PLCAA law with Colorado’s law HB 000-208, (which says in essence: If you bring a civil case against a gun or ammunition seller and the case is dismissed then the plaintiff must pay all the defendant’s costs)