Washington, D.C., August 7, 2018 - Today, the family of murdered 21-year-old Bryan Galliher filed suit against Cabela’s in Wayne County, OH. Bryan was shot and killed in August 2016 by a violent convicted felon with a “black powder” gun he had purchased from Cabela’s in violation of Ohio state law.
The complaint alleges that Cabela’s knew of the shooter’s criminal past but nonetheless sold him the black powder gun. These guns are fully-functional replicas of antique rifles, shotguns, or handguns and are considered by Ohio and a handful of other states to be equivalent to modern firearms for the purposes of purchase and possession laws, and are subsequently prohibited for violent convicted felons. The suit asserts that in addition to it being illegal for Cabela’s to sell the shooter the black powder gun, “Cabela’s and its employees knew and/or should have known firearms law in Ohio, the state in which it was operating, including the law that prohibited Cabela’s from selling a black powder firearm to [the shooter].”
The law firm of Cooper & Elliott in Columbus, OH and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed the suit in the Common Pleas Court of Wayne County, OH on behalf of Bryan’s mother and sister.
Jonathan Lowy, Vice President of Litigation at the Brady Center and co-counsel for the plaintiffs, stated, “We should all be able to agree that gun dealers should be careful to keep deadly weapons from criminals, and they certainly should know and follow all state laws. Bryan Galliher’s family is bringing this case because he would be alive today if a store did not sell a dangerous firearm to a dangerous man. We look forward to proving their case in court.”
Sean Alto, Associate at Cooper & Elliott and co-counsel for the plaintiffs, added, “Bryan’s death has had a life-altering effect on all those who knew and loved him. We are committed to obtaining justice for Bryan, while helping his family find answers and meaning in his death. We don’t want to see any other family endure such an avoidable tragedy. Had better policies and procedures been in place, Bryan’s death could have been prevented.”
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is dedicated to reducing gun injuries and deaths in America by stemming all of the causes of gun violence. Through its legal work, the Brady Center works in the courts to reform dangerous and reckless gun industry practices that give criminals and dangerous individuals access to guns. Brady’s legal team has won rulings in courts across the country holding that gun companies can be held accountable for shootings that result from their negligence, including in the Supreme Courts of Kansas, Indiana, and Alaska, and lower courts in New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Since 1995, civil litigation firm Cooper & Elliott has been helping individuals, families, and business owners find answers to and recover from life’s most tragic events. Cooper & Elliott has built a reputation for trying large, important, and complex cases, and the firm has helped its clients across the U.S. obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in jury verdicts and settlements, including some of the largest jury verdicts in Ohio.
Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.
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