Walmart sued in Philly in sale of ammo used in killings

[onehandle]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Robert Jourdain had been drinking for hours before he walked into a Walmart store early in the morning of July 5 and bought a box of .38-caliber ammunition, court papers say.

Shortly before 3 a.m., Jourdain, then 20, left the Northampton Crossings shopping center in Lower Nazareth Township and got into the white Mercedes Benz sport utility vehicle where Todd West was waiting with a Smith & Wesson revolver. Within an hour, West allegedly used the bullets to kill three people in a random shooting spree on the streets of Easton and Allentown.

The victims' families have filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia against Walmart that one expert says could succeed despite federal protections for gun and ammo dealers. The families claim Walmart and its employees were negligent in selling the ammunition to Jourdain because they should have known he was too young to buy it legally and was mentally impaired by alcohol.

"The bottom line here is that Walmart sold .38-caliber handgun ammunition to an underage person in the middle of the night, and that ammunition was used to kill several people," said Philadelphia attorney Matt Casey, who filed the suit last week.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160108_Walmart_sued_in_Philly_for_selling_ammo_used_in_killings.html

[Duckhunter935]

1. sounds like they are liable

if they sold to an underage person that was drunk. Sounds like they are not protected as it was not a legal sale of the legal product. That is quite unlike we are always told that they have full immunity and can't be sued. Glad you agree and post that they actually can be, thanks.

[cstanleytech]

15. Ya but I suspect that this will be settled out of court just like Walmart settled the

lawsuit Tracy Morgan filed against them.

[passiveporcupine]

2. I hope they win this case,

it might be a start.

[Tab]

3. Guns are useless without ammo

I say, stop selling the ammo.

[trillion]

5. +100000

[hack89]

8. Ammo is protected by the 2A.

defacto bans are unconstitutional.

[Tab]

9. Then we're back to what the definition of constitutional is

Is it a "well-regulated militia"? 'Cause I'm not proposing the military or police have this restriction.

[hack89]

10. The 2A protects an individual right to keep and bear arms (including ammo)

according to the Supreme Court, Democratic Party, President Obama (and, I assume, Bernie and Hillary).

Your question has been answered - it is settled law.

[Tab]

11. I view it as a misreading of the constitution. That said, it won't be fought here.

If anywhere, sadly.

Our precious "right" is killing us off and distilling fear and is taking our country backwards. IMHO.

[hack89]

13. The 2A allows strict regulation of guns

AWBs, registration, magazine size limits are all perfectly legal.

Stop using the 2A as an excuse. The problem gun control advocates face is that there is not deep, widespread public support for the strict gun control laws they want.

[MariaThinks]

14. i thought our problem was watching innocent people get slaughtered by guns and having alot of gun

lovers have no solution to offer and only excuses and insults to hurl (better than bullets I guess) .

[hack89]

16. And you would be wrong.

at least in my case (even though I do not love my guns). I support most gun control with only two exceptions - AWBs and registration.

[MariaThinks]

17. you understand that this is not about YOU but a wider sample

[hack89]

19. There is no trust between the two sides.

I call it the "it's a good start" problem. Good example is Washington State. They passed a universal background check law. The very first thing out of the mouths of its advocates was "it's a good start. We plan to introduce even stricter gun control measures soon."

If your ultimate goal is perceived as banning guns or severely restricting access then why do you expect gun owners to give you one iota of support?

[Duckhunter935]

20. I guess you have not read

The hundreds of posts by DU members that own firearms. I am the same as hack, no AWB and registration I am open to anything else. As for insults, look at the daily insults directed our way, let's see, gun humper, ammosexual for just a couple.

[beevul]

12. The president gets it even if you don't.

Now, I want to be absolutely clear at the start -- and I’ve said this over and over again, this also becomes routine, there is a ritual about this whole thing that I have to do -- I believe in the Second Amendment. It’s there written on the paper. It guarantees a right to bear arms. No matter how many times people try to twist my words around -- I taught constitutional law, I know a little about this -- (applause) -- I get it.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. As a note - neither the sale nor the shooting spree happened IN or near Philly.

It's apparently where the closest PA Common Pleas (state) court is.

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. K&R

If only if only

[7962]

7. Wal Mart near me wont sell ammo after 11pm.

But if you're supposed to check ID, then they screwed up on this one

[MariaThinks]

18. good. they are liable

[Lizzie Poppet]

21. They'll try and throw the clerk under the bus.

They'll claim they had policies against such things (which I'm sure is true), and that they can't be responsible for the employee breaking their rules and the law. Hopefully, that strategy will fail. If they paid those people a living wage, don't you suppose they'd be more inclined to do their job right?