Friggen Walmart settles Ammo sales lawsuit

[Rosco the Iroc]

It might of been cheaper then fighting it but it should never gotten this far.
http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/m...406-story.html

The families of three people gunned down in random July 2015 shootings in Allentown and Easton have settled their claims that Wal-Mart negligently sold ammunition to a drunken accomplice in the killings, court records show.

Filings in Philadelphia County Court, where the victims' families sued Wal-Mart, show the parties reached a tentative agreement last week. Wal-Mart filed papers Wednesday asking Judge John M. Younge to seal the settlement under terms of a confidentiality clause in the agreement.

While many settlements between private parties are never made part of public court records, the victims' settlement with Wal-Mart must be approved by a judge because the victims' estates and children would receive the proceeds, lawyers for the retailer said.

The accord follows a decision by another Philadelphia judge earlier this year allowing the lawsuit to move forward. Legal experts said the ruling was noteworthy because it was among only a few nationwide to recognize exceptions to the broad immunity to lawsuits for gun and ammo dealers under federal law.

Judge Linda Carpenter refused Wal-Mart's request to have the case dismissed under the Protection for Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a 2005 federal law that bars lawsuits against firearms dealers. Lawyers for the victims' families, at first glance, presented enough evidence for the case to proceed under an exception to the ban for certain types of negligence, she wrote.

A spokesman for Wal-Mart said Thursday that the Bentonville, Ark., company offers its sympathies to the families and that the terms of the settlement are confidential. "We're pleased to have resolved this matter," spokesman Charles Crowson said. Attorney Matthew Casey, who represented the victims' families, said he could not comment.

Adam Skaggs, litigation director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said the Wal-Mart settlement fits a broad pattern in lawsuits over gun deaths of dealers fighting "tooth and nail" until a jury trial becomes unavoidable.

"A party like Wal-Mart is not going to settle in a case like this if they believe they have a strong factual defense and clearly they didn't," Skaggs said.

Lawrence Keane, general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Federation, cautioned against assumptions about the parties' reasons for settling. Either side might agree to settle because they recognize weaknesses in their case or want to avoid the uncertainty of a trial.

"I believe the one thing that can be said is that the case shows the PLCAA is functioning as Congress intended," Keane said. "It disproves the false claim of gun control advocates that the PLCAA is 'blanket immunity' for the gun industry."

The families' suit alleged a cashier at the Wal-Mart in Lower Nazareth Township sold a box of .38-caliber ammunition to then 20-year-old Robert Jourdain, who had been at bar for several hours before he walked into the store shortly before 3 a.m. on July 5, 2015.

Jourdain gave the bullets to his cousin Todd West, who loaded them into a revolver, which he used to shoot people at random as he and Jourdain were driven around Easton and then Allentown by Kareem Mitchell.

Killed were Kory Ketrow, 22, in Easton, and Trevor Gray, 22, and Francine Ramos, 32, in Allentown. The shootings happened within an hour of each other. West pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in October and was given three life sentences. Jourdain pleaded guilty to third-degree murder conspiracy and faces 12 to 40 years in prison. Mitchell is in Lehigh County Jail awaiting trial.

In its defense, Wal-Mart invoked the federal ban on death and injury claims against gun dealers resulting from crimes committed with guns. But the families argued Wal-Mart's sale of ammunition to Jourdain constituted negligent entrustment and negligence per se, both of which are exempt from the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act's ban.

The victims' families claimed the cashier who sold the ammunition should have known there was a risk Jourdain would use it to harm others and that he was underage and drunk.

Wal-Mart argued the sale was not negligent because the cashier could not have known Jourdain was drunk and had no way of knowing he would give the bullets to a murderer. Wal-Mart also claimed the federal law restricting the sale of handgun ammunition to people older than 21 wasn't intended to allow individuals to sue for damages, but rather to provide criminal and administrative penalties against dealers who make illegal sales.

The case had been scheduled for trial in February 2018.

peter.hall@mcall.com

Twitter @phall215

610-820-6581

[bamboomaster]

Crazy world out there....

I guess this means it's the end of taking a joy ride to Walmart at 3:00 a.m. to buy some ammo for a knock-out game instead of going to a local range. I wonder if the purchase was made in late morning, before he started drinking, if things would have been different. Maybe he would have gone to a disco or something and hooked up with some chicks instead. Maybe he was working during the day and couldn't get time off to shop?

Heartbreaking consequences - all the result of pi$$-poor judgment...folks with that kind of persona shouldn't be anywhere near firearms or ammo.

[abner13]

Cheaper to settle without accepting guilt than to fight it out in court and run the chance of having some liberal (all-minority) jury of 12 people with nothing better to do (no job) , decide.

[john9001]

Cheaper to settle is how trial lawyers get rich.

Tort reform is needed.

[fallenleader]

Crazy world out there....

I guess this means it's the end of taking a joy ride to Walmart at 3:00 a.m. to buy some ammo for a knock-out game instead of going to a local range. I wonder if the purchase was made in late morning, before he started drinking, if things would have been different. Maybe he would have gone to a disco or something and hooked up with some chicks instead. Maybe he was working during the day and couldn't get time off to shop?

Heartbreaking consequences - all the result of pi$$-poor judgment...folks with that kind of persona shouldn't be anywhere near firearms or ammo.

Eburg walmart closes gun section at 10pm. has for the 6 or so years i've lived here.

i wonder if walmart would be responsible if someone took a kitchen knife and started hacking people... of if they would be responsible if the person bought said knife first.
maybe the mc.donalds in the local walmart is responsible if they sell hot coffee to someone who then proceeds to throw it on the person in line behind them...
maybe walmart should psyche test their patrons and even run a minority report style asset retention division.
are they responsible if someone broke the lock and stole the ammo instead?
edit again: legallotto winners piss me off.

[Aggies Coach]

Cheaper to settle without accepting guilt than to fight it out in court and run the chance of having some liberal (all-minority) jury of 12 people with nothing better to do (no job) , decide.

I am not sure what minorities have to with this. I mean, you could get an all white jury from Swarthmore, and get the same result. You do realize all minorities arent liberal, just like all white folks arent conservative........right ????

[Mitch10mm]

I am not sure what minorities have to with this. I mean, you could get an all white jury from Swarthmore, and get the same result. You do realize all minorities arent liberal, just like all white folks arent conservative........right ????

There is a reason they use jury consultants

[Yoder]

Next they will have a breathalyzer at the ammo counter.

[abner13]

I am not sure what minorities have to with this. I mean, you could get an all white jury from Swarthmore, and get the same result. You do realize all minorities arent liberal, just like all white folks arent conservative........right ????

Been in Allentown or Easton lately? Finding 12 legal citizens who understand and speak English might be a stretch.

[RenoV8]

Been in Allentown or Easton lately? Finding 12 legal citizens who understand and speak English might be a stretch.

Que? No entiendo ingles. Digame en espanol...