Maryland - Gun-Banners Rejected In Court...Again

The Maryland Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled on Wednesday that gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Company could not be held accountable for the 1999 death of Jordan Garris. Jordan died when he accidentally shot himself after he discovered his father’s firearm stored under a mattress. The court held, in a 6-1 ruling, that what led to the tragic death of the three-year-old was, "the carelessness of Jordan’s father." Judge Alan Wilner, who wrote the majority opinion, found the father acted "in contravention not only of common sense but of multiple warnings given to him at the time of purchase (of the firearm)." The rejection of this case—which had been supported by the gun-ban lobby formerly known as HCI—adds to the overwhelming tide of judicial rulings rejecting the reckless lawsuits agenda of the gun-ban community. Lawrence G. Keane, vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF), stated "As Maryland’s high court found, this tragic accident was caused by the failure of a firearm’s owner to act in a safe and responsible manner by following the most basic firearms safety messages and warnings provided to him by the manufacturer and the retailer that sold him the firearm."