Mother Jones originally published this piece in July 2017, but the editors decided to promote it this week following the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
My Daughter Was Murdered in a Mass Shooting. Then I Was Ordered to Pay Her Killer’s Gun Dealer. https://t.co/446dIfbUbH pic.twitter.com/QRwNJHYepr
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 15, 2018
The piece tells the story of Sandy Phillips, whose daughter was killed in the mass shooting by James Holmes at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater in 2012. The story is tragic all the way around, including the lawsuit filed against the dealer who sold the stockpile of ammunition to Holmes.
Working for the Brady Campaign became a flurry of media appearances and meetings with politicians, police, and survivors. The Brady leadership also encouraged Lonnie and me to sue Lucky Gunner, the dealer that sold the stockpile of ammo to Jessi’s killer. We agreed that dealers should have to take some responsibility. Shouldn’t they have to vet a buyer of military-grade weaponry? Or a buyer of bullets en masse? The primary goal of our lawsuit was to make the gun dealer change its business practices—at a minimum, to ask for proof of identity and do a background check.
The case would go on for three months, yet we never met the judge and never saw a courtroom. When the judge dismissed the suit, he said, “It is apparent that this case was filed to pursue the political purposes of the Brady Center.” In my opinion, the law that protects the gun dealers also bars people like us from our constitutional right to be heard.
In the end, Phillips and her husband were ordered to pay more than $200,000 in legal fees to the defendants.
Ah yes, phase three of the post-mass-shooting ritual: ignoring legitimate and important discussions in favor of totally disingenuous click-bait headlines. https://t.co/VfCPhHkY1W
— Susan Kruth (@susankruth) February 15, 2018
The Brady Center encouraged these people to sue and then didn't help driving them into bankruptcy. That is awful. https://t.co/WSCWiwEhK0
— Crusader Melvyl (@melvyl) February 15, 2018
You were taken advantage of by predatory activists who advised you to file a frivolous lawsuit for political reasons.
You then had to pay court costs, which is what happens when you file frivolous lawsuits. https://t.co/U6Voh7Mrd8
— Yaniv Kaufmann (@notwokieleaks) February 15, 2018
Ugh, leftist activists took advantage of her grief and forced a lawsuit she couldn't win.
Terrible. https://t.co/pVqYbtzjMX
— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) February 15, 2018
Because you filed a bogus lawsuit which you were told was bogus and would end up exactly this way. Yet you persisted. https://t.co/xFjopxzjjH
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) February 15, 2018
Because you filed a frivolous lawsuit that any competent lawyer would've told you was doomed from the outset https://t.co/DDQqv83yWi
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) February 15, 2018
The rightful blame lies at the feet of the anti – gun groups which manipulated a grief stricken family and encouraged them to file a frivolous claim. But Mother Jones will never tell you that. https://t.co/lvrQn8eLUr
— Drowsy Giant (@DrowsyGiant) February 15, 2018
Imagine if someone legally sold a car and the person he sold it to wound up being an alcoholic and killed someone drunk driving
Is the car dealer liable on the grounds he should have somehow known? https://t.co/mnHBbBu2WG— The Truth (@TheTruth_789) February 15, 2018
