Ohio, April 28, 1999
In Ohio, Brady’s legal team was able to set precedent to hold irresponsible members of the firearms industry accountable for supplying and profiting from the criminal gun market. With the help of Brady, the city of Cincinnati filed a complaint against fifteen handgun manufacturers, three trade associations, and one handgun distributor. We alleged that the defendants manufactured, marketed, and distributed their firearms in ways facilitate firearm accessibility to prohibited users, including children and criminals.Rather than file an answer, 15 of the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint. The trial court granted the motions to dismiss, and the Ohio court of appeals affirmed on similar grounds. The Ohio Supreme Court, however, sided with Cincinnati and Brady. In 2002, it issued a ruling holding that this type of lawsuit — one brought by a municipality against a gun manufacturers to recover damages associated with the costs of firearm violence incurred by the municipality — should not be dismissed.Ohio’s Supreme Court found that if Cincinnati suffered “actual injury and damages including, but not limited to, significant expenses for police, emergency, health, prosecution, corrections, and other services,” it could recover those damages from the gun industry. With this holding, Brady paved the way for Ohio municipalities to recover from firearms industry members for the costs, including human lives, their irresponsibility inflicts.
For more than 30 years, Brady’s legal team has been the nation’s only law group fighting on behalf of victims and communities to prevent gun deaths and injuries.
We've argued and won before state supreme courts, trial courts, and federal appeals courts, arguing or filing legal briefs in 44 states, and helping win important victories in the United States Supreme Court. Brady's Legal Alliance works with hundreds of lawyers and firms that contribute their passion and time — pro bono — to reform the corporate gun lobby and secure justice for the victims and survivors of gun violence.
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