Sunday, February 07, 1999
Should Cincinnati sue gunmakers?
BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati is picking sides for a gun fight. To hear Carol Cannon's side of the story is to hear how handguns destroyed her family. To hear Jim Coombe's side is to hear how a handgun saved his life.
The two represent opposite poles in the emotional debate over guns and whether Cincinnati should sue manufacturers for millions of dollars.
City leaders want gun makers to pay for the enormous costs they say guns bring to Cincinnati.
Encouraged by successful tobacco lawsuits, filed by state governments, a handful of cities are tailoring similar lawsuits to force gun makers to reimburse taxpayers for law enforcement and medical costs resulting from shootings.
“Cincinnati, like most cities, has found guns are the root cause in a lot of problems,” Mayor Roxanne Qualls said. “It's time that we hold the gun manufacturers accountable, just like any other manufacturer.”
While money means nothing next to the lives lost by gun tragedies, forcing gun makers to pay costs and produce safer guns could save lives, she said.
With a public hearing Wednesday, Cincinnati will be a step closer to a vote to take on this legal battle.
Finding the money to sue may not be hard. Consensus might be more of a struggle.
Mrs. Cannon lost two sons to guns. In 1995, her 26-year-old son, Johnny Cannon Jr., was shot 11 times in the head in Over-the-Rhine. Two years later, her second son, Derrick, 26, was shot to death in front of a crowd at the Imperial Club on Woodburn Avenue in East Walnut Hills.
She is among those who want gun makers to pay, claiming guns could be made safer and are marketed too freely and recklessly.
“The only people profiting are the gun manufacturers, the prisons, the funeral homes and the cemeteries,” the Evanston woman said. “I've lost two sons from illegal handguns. I have been fighting a losing battle.”
Mr. Coombe says that blame is misplaced. He knows a gun saved his life.
The Cincinnati attorney was a graduate student at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in 1985 when he was mugged in an alley. He pulled out the Smith & Wesson 9mm semiautomatic pistol he was licensed to carry and shot his attacker in the abdomen. Police ruled it a case of self-defense. His attacker survived and was sent to prison.
As an attorney, Mr. Coombe, of Mason, questions the idea of suing gun manufacturers.
“If the city wants to engage in these ridiculous lawsuits, it's opening the door to suits against liquor manufacturers, and next is the car manufacturers,” he said. “If we start making manufacturers responsible for evil things beyond their control, then manufacturers of anything could be liable.”
Next could be McDonald's for Big Macs that block arteries, he said.
Around the country, there are many who sympathize with victims such as Mrs. Cannon and the financial burden cities bear as a result of gun-related violence. There are also those who, like Mr. Coombe, believe guns are not the problem, and who find the idea of lawsuits excessive.
Gun makers argue that misuse of their product should not make them liable. They say criminals should be the ones prosecuted. Already, the powerful 3-million-member National Rifle Association (NRA) is lobbying state legislatures to outlaw such lawsuits.
Following suit
Following the lead of mayors in Chicago and New Orleans, Ms. Qualls is behind the push to file suit.
Before doing so, council would have to approve spending money for what could be a long and expensive court battle. A public hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday in council chambers.
Former Cincinnati Police Lt. Harry Thomas will be there asking council to reject the issue.
He is one of about 32 percent of Americans who have guns at home, according to a 1998 Harris Poll, which found gun ownership is down 16 percent since 1973.
Mr. Thomas is on the board of directors of the NRA. He also is one of the millions of gun owners who want the government to stay out of the gun business.
“What they're not taking into account are the benefits of handgun ownership,” he said. “Handguns are necessary. They actually save us a great deal more money than they cost.” Part of the savings is in preventing crimes, he said.
Cost to taxpayers
The American College of Physicians estimates that firearms injuries cost the nation more than $4 billion a year, with $19 billion in indirect costs, such as lost potential earnings.
If Cincinnati were to sue gun makers, the city would argue that much of the cost of gun violence is borne by taxpayers through government payment of medical expenses, emergency services, police protection, courts and prisons. This parallels the argument states used in the successful suits against the tobacco manufacturers.
“I think it's a bunch of horse hockey,” said pawn shop clerk George Waters, 54, of Florence.
When the Taylor Mill shop where Mr. Waters worked was held up last April, he faked a heart attack, grabbed his loaded .45-caliber handgun from behind the counter and fired at the two bandits. He says gun makers are not the enemies.
The words of gun advocates are little comfort to Mrs. Cannon.
She wonders how many guns are on the streets of Cincinnati.
“These guns are becoming too readily available for people just to pick up,” she said. “I want the ones off the street that are causing people to die.”
Marc DuChemin says only a total ban on guns would help. The 18-year-old Anderson Township man was shot in the leg a year ago by a drive-by shooter. The case is unresolved and the fully recovered Mr. DuChemin shrugs off the impact of gun locks and lawsuits.
While there is no federal gun registration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms estimates there are at least 230 million guns across the country, about 80 million of them handguns.
Law enforcement officials say it's impossible to keep track of how many guns are out there — legally or illegally. After an initial sale of a gun, there's no record of where it goes next.
Cincinnati's gun problem pales in comparison with other cities involved in suing gun makers, said Sgt. John Newsom, a Cincinnati homicide unit supervisor.
While Chicago police seize 18,000 guns used in crimes each year, Cincinnati police confiscate about 1,000, he said. After criminal cases are resolved, the guns Cincinnati collects are destroyed.
Hamilton County reported 197 shooting deaths in the last six years: 107 homicides, 84 suicides and six accidental shootings.
In the Tristate, the way each county compiles gun-related crimes varies widely. Butler County, for example, reported 109 handgun deaths in the last six years. Dearborn County averages one firearm death per year.
Of the 58 homicides in Greater Cincinnati last year, 22 were shooting deaths. So far, four of those shooting deaths have been ruled self-defense.
Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck, author of the 1993 book Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, says his 1993 research and similar studies have found guns are used 2.5 million times for protection each year. That's three times as often as guns are used in violent crimes.
Christine Mixon, 43, of Avondale has mixed feelings about the gun debate. A gunshot wound has forever changed the life of her son, Marco, who was shot in the head by his cousin while they played with a handgun. Seven years later, at age 20, Marco Mixon is a high school graduate. But he still has physical problems and short-term memory loss. He cannot yet hold down a job.
“Gun makers do not put the guns in the hands of the users,” Ms. Mixon said. “Sometimes they end up in the hands of the wrong people. That's not the manufacturer's fault.”
What's next?
City attorneys already are researching state law to decide what might be included in a lawsuit against handgun manufacturers.
But before one is actually filed — which could be as soon as this spring — council would have to approve the money to fight the case that would be tried in state or federal court.
Council voted 5 to 4 last week to approve Mayor Qualls' motion to file suit. Republicans Jeanette Cissell, Phil Heimlich and Charlie Winburn and Charterite Jim Tarbell were against it. Democrats Ms. Qualls, Paul Booth, Minette Cooper, Todd Portune and Tyrone Yates voted for the motion.
The next step will be listening to the people.
Legal claims rest on negligence or nuisance
'Smart guns' are not answer, some experts say
TOUCHED BY TRAGEDIES
Are Clintons protecting or using Chelsea?
A Saturday primary? Maybe
Should Cincinnati sue gunmakers?
Census miscounts cost locals
Sampler Weekend spreads arts Tristate-wide
Fine Arts Sampler: Museum & Gallery Highlights
Fine Arts Sampler: Sunday schedule
Fine Arts Sampler: Saturday schedule
Hallmark's Hall of Fame tradition
Bishop saluted for race summit
Imagemaker Award winners
Trench cave-in survivor faces long rehab
The things we all take for granted
Clinton not Republicans' only problem
No slowing road work sometimes
Bauer may not have shot, but will have say
Courts step up to a new home
Deals before death grow
Fairfield police take aim at rare feat: accreditation
Furniture takes over at Turfway
Gadd enters not-guilty plea
Heat turned up for adult shops
Politicians move mementos of home
Skater keeps cool on ice
TRISTATE DIGEST
