A California judge decided that victims of the 2019 synagogue shooting near San Diego that killed one worshiper and wounded three can sue the manufacturer of the semiautomatic rifle used in the attack and the gun shop that sold the weapon.
San Diego County Superior Court Judge Kenneth J. Medel said Wednesday that victims and families in the Poway synagogue shooting have adequately alleged that Smith & Wesson, the nation’s largest gun maker, knew its AR-15-style rifle could be easily modified into a machine-gun-like or assault weapon in violation of state law, according to a newspaper report.
The judge also said the shop, San Diego Guns, could be sued for selling the weapon to the shooting suspect, John Earnest, who was 19 and lacked a hunting license that would have exempted him from California’s minimum age of 21 for owning long guns.
Prosecutors say Earnest, a nursing student, opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle during the last day of Passover services in April 2019. The attack killed 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye and wounded three others, including an 8-year-old girl and the rabbi, who lost a finger.
I’ll give you an idea how long overdue this is. I learned how to “rewatt” machines guns around 1955. And, no, it wasn’t from one of the gunsmiths in my family. It was the “gun-guy” in the street-racing gang I ran with.
Federal gun trafficking strike forces launched in five cities https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/564271-federal-gun-trafficking-strike-forces-launched-in-five-cities
The Justice Department is launching an effort in five cities in the U.S. to reduce spiking gun violence by addressing illegal trafficking and prosecuting offenses that help put guns in the hands of criminals. https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-shootings-coronavirus-pandemic-gun-politics-fc16e2a1a4571be552d82def7bd5e781
John T. Earnest will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder in the deadly 2019 shooting at a Southern California synagogue, as part of a plea agreement that will spare him from the death penalty.
Earnest still faces more than a hundred federal charges and hate crime charges — including 54 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and bodily injury and involving the attempt to kill — in connection to the shooting. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/20/us/poway-synagogue-shooter-guilty-plea/index.html
What’s behind far-right trend of using 3D tech to make guns?
There are mounting concerns over the proliferation of 3D-printed weapons amid growing arrests across Europe of people downloading and or trying to build their own guns. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/31/what-behind-far-right-trend-using-3d-tech-make-guns
See also “The Halle, Germany, Synagogue Attack and the Evolution of the Far-Right Terror Threat” https://ctc.usma.edu/halle-germany-synagogue-attack-evolution-far-right-terror-threat/
“NRA Affiliate Challenges Strict New York Handgun Law : Two Men Denied Gun Permits Want the Supreme Court to Overturn Century-Old State Law” https://www.dcreport.org/2021/07/30/nra-affiliate-challenges-strict-new-york-handgun-law-in-the-supreme-court/
The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, which is affiliated with the NRA, and two men who couldn’t get gun permits in New York, sued. The judges Donald Trump put on the Supreme Court – Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – are all endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
“I don’t think people really understand the gravity of this case,” said Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “It would upend the very framework of the country’s public safety laws.”
A 2018 Stanford paper found that right-to-carry laws are associated with an increase of 13-15% higher violent crime rates a decade later. https://www.nber.org/papers/w23510