Thursday, January 28, 1999
Council targets gun makers
City may sue manufacturers for costs of medical care, police, jail
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati City Council took the first step Wednesday toward joining the parade of American cities filing lawsuits against all major handgun manufacturers to recover the costs of gun-related violence.
Offering to help the city is Stanley Chesley, a nationally known lawyer from Cincinnati who has taken on the tobacco companies, among other industries.
At Wednesday's council meeting, the five Democrats — a majority — directed city lawyers to draw up an ordinance committing the city to a lawsuit seeking damages from handgun manufacturers. The amount of damages has not been determined.
The lawsuit would be similar to ones already filed by New Orleans and Chicago, and being drafted in dozens of other U.S. cities.
“Every day, children and adults are being injured by guns, and there has to be some accountability by the people who manufacture them,” said Mayor Roxanne Qualls, principal sponsor of the motion.
The council motion — signed by Ms. Qualls and council members Tyrone Yates, Minette Cooper, Todd Portune and Paul Booth — said that a lawsuit would allege that manufacturers' sales of guns “fail to incorporate safety designs to prevent their use by children and other unauthorized users.”
The suit would also allege that the handgun manufacturers, “through their design and marketing efforts, massively distribute in a manner that makes them readily available for illegal use in the city of Cincinnati.”
Council members said they hope to have an ordinance drafted by council's Feb. 11 meeting.
Ms. Qualls said city lawyers and administrators will try to calculate the costs to the city of handgun shootings.
“One way would be to calculate the unreimbursed costs of treating people wounded by gunshots,” Ms. Qualls said. The city, she said, picks up a “substantial share” of the costs of medical and emergency services, police protection and courts and prisons from gun-related deaths and injuries.
Mr. Yates will hold a hearing on the proposal next month in the Law and Public Safety Com mittee he chairs. He said the city could also calculate the lost wages of persons killed or incapacitated by gun violence and the amount of tax revenue lost to the city.
The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence estimates it costs more than $14,000 to treat each child wounded by gunfire. The American College of Physicians estimates that firearms injuries cost the nation more than $4 billion a year.
The council majority said in a statement that in the past six years, Cincinnati has seen 107 gun-related homicides, 84 gun-related suicides and six gun-related accidents.
“The proposed suit by the city of Cincinnati is an attack on manufacturers that have used their powerful lobbying ability to exclude themselves from the (federal) Consumer Protection Act,” the statement said. “The manufacturers know that these weapons are destined to end up in the hands of criminals.”
The act, passed by Congress in 1972, protects consumers from defective products, but excluded two — tobacco and handguns.
Council action came on a day when Bridgeport, Conn., and Miami, Fla., announced intentions to sue handgun manufacturers. In Washington, the U.S. Conference of Mayors discussed whether cities should join in one lawsuit or let cities file individual suits.
Several big-city mayors said it is more likely that cities will pursue their own suits, because the laws are different in each state.
Officials at the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Association, a leading industry group that has been critical of lawsuits by cities, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Yates said he would invite Mr. Chesley, who has been involved in the New Orleans gun case, to help the city with its lawsuit. Mr. Chesley said Wednesday he would be glad to do it.
“I'm delighted that council wants to go forward,” Mr. Chesley said. “Cities need to put up a united front. It's the right way to go to deal with this problem.”
It was not immediately clear whether the other four council members — Republicans Charles Winburn, Phil Heimlich and Jeanette Cissell and Charterite Jim Tarbell — would sup port proceeding with the lawsuit.
“My gut reaction is to be very supportive, but I'd like more information on this,” Mr. Tarbell said.
Mr. Winburn, who last week proposed a program to give 5,000 gun owners “gun locks,” said he wants to know more about the cost of a lawsuit before he decides.
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