Route 91 Festival Victims File Lawsuit Against Bump Stock Manufacturers
A lawsuit has been filed against bump stock manufacturers following the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting. Via the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, three victims of the shooting are suing Slide Fire Solutions and other unidentified bump stock makers and retailers; the lawsuit could become a class-action suit.
Bloomberg reports that the Brady Center filed the lawsuit in Clark County District Court last week, just days after the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting on Oct. 1. The lawsuit, according to the Associated Press, claims that Slide Fire Solutions -- a leading manufacturer of bump stocks -- misled authorities about the purpose of bump stocks and marketed the devices to gun enthusiasts.
“Plaintiffs are unaware of any measures taken by Slide Fire to ensure that bump stocks would only be sold to persons whose hands had limited mobility," the lawsuit states, "or to even see if persons buying bump stocks who were not limited in mobility had any legitimate reason to buy them."
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A bump stock allows a semi-automatic firearm to fire continuously, as a fully automatic weapon would; fully automatic guns are subject to more restrictions than semi-automatic ones. Authorities found a number of them in the hotel room of the Route 91 Harvest Festival gunman, Stephen Paddock. Bump stock manufacturers, the Brady Center claims, told federal regulators that the device was being manufactured to help disabled gun owners, but marketed the device to those looking for the experience of firing a fully automatic weapon.
"So what their product is designed to do is subvert federal law on machine guns," says Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Center, "and that's irresponsible."
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, established in 2005, protects gun makers and dealers from liability in the case of a crime committed with a firearm; however, Gardiner says, the act's protections should not apply in this case because Slide Fire Solutions and the other bump stock manufacturers do not make guns or ammunition.
“This horrific assault did not occur, could not occur, and would not have occurred with a conventional handgun, rifle, or shotgun, of the sort used by law-abiding responsible gun owners for hunting or self-defense,” the lawsuit reads.
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