Families of Shooting Victims Sue Kentucky Gun Shop

Families of the victims of a mass shooting at a Louisville, KY bank last year are suing the store that sold firearms to the shooter. It’s the first time that a gun store has been sued for selling weapons used in this kind of event. The case may set a precedent for how victims proceed after future mass shootings, and it also signals a new tactic in gun control advocates’ playbook.

The Events

The lawsuit alleges that the Louisville-based FFL should have noticed warning signs that the future shooter was unstable and refused to sell weapons to him. According to the lawsuit, the FFL staff is “trained to spot individuals who may have nefarious intentions.”

The lawsuit states that the shooter appeared uneasy, didn’t maintain eye contact, and wasn’t familiar with how firearms worked in the store. I’ve been to a lot of gun stores in my life, and that could describe many shoppers at any store.

The total value of the lawsuit will be determined at trial. See the full text of the case filing here:

The Breakdown

Lawsuits aren’t a new tactic for gun control activists. On Everytown’s website, the organization specifically talks about using lawsuits to “hold the gun industry responsible” for deaths from gun violence. They even have a specific page targeting FFLs. Everytown is currently working with the victims’ families on the lawsuit.

This provides a new twist on the gun control playbook. Previously, lawsuits have targeted manufacturers of firearms. Plaintiffs in these cases (the ones initiating the lawsuit) often claim that manufacturers craft marketing materials that encourage shooters to commit their crimes.

This is the first time that we’ve seen a gun shop get targeted with a lawsuit, though. And regardless of how the case ends, it sets a dangerous precedent for every local gun store in the country.

It’s also interesting to note that the shooter in this case was deliberately trying to trigger gun control reforms in the US. According to a police report, he wrote in his diary that he had “decided to make an impact,” and that he thought “perhaps this is the impact for change — upper class white people dying… If not, good luck.”

Final Thoughts

I want to finish this post by clarifying some things. First, I don’t want a reader to confuse my position here with me not feeling for the victims and their families. I absolutely do. Those people should still be alive, and the only reason they’re not is because of a coward whose name I’m not going to print. I understand why they’re angry, and I get that they want to take action.

But they’re targeting the wrong people. The store that sold the gun to the shooter in this case is a small business that’s just trying to make it. You can’t blame them when some psycho decides to use a gun he bought from them to kill people. By suing this store, the only thing the victims’ families are doing is putting a few people out of a job.

I’m not sure what the solution to this problem is. If I did, I’d be running for public office, not writing blog posts on the internet. But one thing’s for sure, this is the same kind of knee-jerk reaction that brought us the PATRIOT Act after 9/11, and look how well that turned out for all of us.