Joining other courts in the same conclusion, the Third Circuit, applying New Jersey law, held that firearms makers are not liable under a public nuisance doctrine for the manufacture and sale of handguns.
In Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 273 F.3d 536 (3d Cir. 2001), a New Jersey county sued a raft of firearms manufacturers in federal court, alleging that the marketing and distribution of handguns created and contributed to the widespread criminal use of the weapons in the county. They relied on three theories of liability--negligence, negligent entrustment, and public nuisance--and sought several forms of relief, including compensation for additional costs to abate the alleged nuisance, an injunction, and compensatory and punitive damages.
The district court rejected all three of the bases asserted for liability, dismissing the negligence claims and finding that the public nuisance ploy was defective because the county did not allege the "required element that the defendants exercised control over the nuisance to be abated."...
