Vintage Firearms Lawsuit (Part 2)
Yesterday, SCOPE gave you the legal background to the lawsuit we are discussing, today.
This e mail is about an effort to drive a small gun store into bankruptcy through unsubstantiated lawsuits. An NRA official said about similar lawsuits, “These cases aren’t designed to win… It’s a sinister abuse of the legal system aimed at bankrupting a lawful industry.” If they can drive gun stores out of business in New York State, they remove access to guns and ammo.
This lawsuit is supported by the usual anti-gun suspects: Everytown (Bloomberg), Giffords, Brady United.
On May 14, 2022, at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in Buffalo, ten people were murdered and three were injured.
The murderer, Payton S. Gendron, a white male, was 18 years old at the time of the shooting. He had traveled three and a half hours to the Tops supermarket from his hometown of Conklin, New York.
On November 28, 2022, Gendron pled guilty to all state charges in the shooting, including murder, domestic terrorism, and hate crimes. On February 15, 2023, Gendron was sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
There seems to be no question that this was a ‘hate crime’ based on writings of Gendron.
The Bushmaster XM-15* that was used in the shooting was purchased from Vintage Firearms in Endicott, NY.
Currently, there are six lawsuits filed against Vintage Firearms owner Robert Donald by: the City of Buffalo; the City of Rochester; relatives of the victim; bystanders at the shooting. All lawsuits attempt to skirt the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) and use New York State’s Nuisance laws passed in 2021. (See yesterday’s email for deeper discussion on those laws.)
There is no question that Gendron passed the NICS background check after filling in Form 4473 at Vintage Firearms. Gendron had also cleared another NICS check while purchasing a shotgun (not used in the murders) at a store in the neighboring town of Great Bend, Pennsylvania. Two passed NICS checks would seem to prove that the seller had no reason to question the legality of the sale.
In addition, an ATF inspection of Vintage Firearms after the shooting found no issues.
The lawsuits contend that Vintage Hardware’s owner should have seen that something was wrong with Gendron and stopped the sale. But there is not a single factor that indicates that the owner would have known something was wrong with Gendron; for instance, he was not in any rush when buying the rifle. Gendron did nothing to arouse suspicion and the seller did not remember Gendron until later shown his picture. There are no accusations in the lawsuits that Vintage Hardware’s owner shared any of Gendron’s racial animosity that made it a ‘hate crime.’
In addition, the owner of a local pawn shop frequented by Gendron is an Irani immigrant who did not see any racist signs in Gendron.
So, the lawsuits throw a “Hail Mary.”
Since New York prohibits the purchase and/or possession of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Gendron traveled to Pennsylvania to purchase a 30-round ammunition magazine. In his on-line diary, Gendron posted photos of modifications he made to his rifle so that it could be equipped with the 30-round magazine, while acknowledging that this was illegal in New York.
The lawsuits claim that a Vintage Firearms employee instructed him as to how to replace the fixed magazine with the 30 rounds magazine. Vintage Hardware’s owner told SCOPE he does not have any employees and, in fact, he did not know how to make this change until shown how, after the shooting!
The change involves drilling out a part and the plaintiffs claim this made the magazine removeable. (This is important! If the lawsuits are successful, they will have redefined every semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine as an Assault Rifle, as there would be no fixed magazines; every magazine would be removeable by drilling it out.)
How are these suits possible since the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. This is the law that Joe Biden constantly lies about by saying gun manufacturers can’t be sued.
Under this law, both arms manufacturers and dealers can still be held liable for damages resulting from defective products, breach of contract, criminal misconduct, and other actions for which they are directly responsible; this is the same basis as almost every other product. (This is not an issue in these lawsuits.)
Manufacturers and dealers may also be held liable for negligent entrustment if it is found that they had reason to believe a firearm was intended for use in a crime. (There is no evidence that Vintage Firearms had an inkling of what Gendron intended to do.)
There is another loophole in PLCAA and this is the one that the plaintiffs are using. PLCAA does not shield the manufacturer or retailer when: “a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product knowingly violated a State or Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the product, and the violation was a proximate cause of the harm for which relief is sought.” Under NY laws passed in 2021, (bills S7196 and A6762B), they classify firearms as a public nuisance to circumvent PLCAA. Even though they are probably unconstitutional, the laws are still on the books. Therefore, the plaintiffs say NY’s laws were violated and PLCAA does not apply.
Vintage Firearms is under attack. But it isn’t about just this one gun store. The gun grabbers in NY State are sending a message to all gun stores; we’re coming after you. Open a gun store in NY State and you open yourself up to bankruptcy as the left will drag you through court and even if the gun store wins, the cost of defending themselves is so great that they lose. In proof of this, Gendron purchased some of the parts he used from a major gun retailer which would have had the money to defend itself. The lawsuits omit that store and go for a one-man operation in hoping it can’t afford to defend itself.
These anti-2A organizations like Everytown (Bloomberg), Giffords and Brady United are vicious and no-holds-barred in pursuit of neutering the 2nd Amendment. Get in their way and they will punish you!
These lawsuits are great example of how anti-2A organizations with deep liberal pockets are a direct threat to our constitutional rights, by using the court system.
If you would like to help, make check to the owner, Robert Donald and send it to:
Robert Donald
PO Box 5567
Endicott, NY 13763
Please note that you are a SCOPE member
Or send the check to SCOPE and note that it is for Vintage Firearms; 100% will be quickly forwarded.
SCOPE
PO Box 165
East Aurora, NY 14052
* Bushmaster XM-15 Rifles | Palmetto State Armory
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