Thursday, July 28, 2005

Will Someone Please Explain This To Me?

PHILADELPHIA (KYW) PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The family of a teenager who was accidentally shot to death by a friend is suing the gun store that sold the weapon.

The lawsuit is the second of its kind to be initiated by the Washington-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which successfully pursued a similar case for another Philadelphia family last year; that cased ended with an $850,000 settlement.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, the parents of Anthony Oliver Jr. accuse Lou’s Loans of Upper Darby of negligence for selling a .25-caliber gun to a “straw buyer.”

Anthony Oliver Jr. was shot July 23, 2004, while playing video games with a friend. The other teen had just bought the gun on the street for $50, officials said. He told authorities he thought the safety was on when he accidentally shot Oliver in the stomach; he was charged as an adult with third-degree murder.

The gun had been traded on the black market and federal investigators traced it to Lou’s Loans.

The owner of the gun store, Stanton Myerson, said he had not seen the complaint, but that all gun buyers have to have their backgrounds checked by state police.

The Brady Center is representing the victim’s father and mother, Anthony Oliver Sr. and Sheree Goode. The parents declined to comment.

kyw.com
OK, let's do the facts here:
- The owner of a store sells guns
- To buy a gun from the store you have to pass a background test
- Someone bought a gun from the store
- The person that bought the gun had to pass a background test
- The gun passes from the new owner to the black market
- A teenager bought the gun from the black market for $50
- The teenager shoots and kills his buddy with the gun

But, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the store owner should be responsible for the death.

So let's take the above facts and do a bit of "find and replace":

OK, let's do the facts here:
- A dealership sells cars
- To buy a car from the store you have to pass a background test
- Someone bought a car from the dealership
- The person that bought the car had to pass a background test
- The car passes from the new owner to the black market
- A teenager bought the car from the black market for $500
- The teenager runs over and kills his buddy with the car

But, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Automotive Violence, the dealership should be responsible for the death.

Let's try that again:

- A restaurant sells hamburgers
- To buy a hamburger from the restaurant you have to pass a background test
- Someone bought a hamburger from the restaurant
- The person that bought the hamburger had to pass a background test
- The hamburger passes from the new owner to the black market
- A teenager bought the hamburger from the black market for $5
- The teenager force-feeds and kills his buddy with the hamburger

But, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Hamburger Violence, the restaurant should be responsible for the death.

Will someone please explain this to me?

If I go bezerk and kill someone, who is responsible:
- Me
- the Remington Arms Company