Brady Sues Online Retailers: The Anti-Gun Machine Grinds on.

On September 16, 2014 The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, also known as "A group of people opposed to certain kinds of violence, under certain conditions done with certain inanimate objects" filed a lawsuit against four online retailers for selling ammunition, body armor and tear gas canisters to James Holmes, who you well know is set to resume his trial for the 2012 shooting in Aurora, Co.   The suit is against Lucky Gunner , Sportsmans Guide , Bullet Proof body Armor HQ and BTP Arms.

The lawsuit alleges that these retailers are responsible for being clairvoyant mediums or for employing said mediums and are required to screen the aura and psyche of on line shoppers before their purchases are made in order to best decide if the private transaction should be allowed to proceed.  Okay it doesn't actually say that, but according to the brain trust at Brady Campaign:

“A crazed, homicidal killer should not be able to amass a military arsenal, without showing his face or answering a single question, with the simple click of a mouse,” said Jonathan Lowy, director of the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project and co-counsel for Sandy and Lonnie Phillips. “If businesses choose to sell military-grade equipment online, they must screen purchasers to prevent arming people like James Holmes. Sandy and Lonnie Phillips have brought this lawsuit to make sellers of lethal arms and military equipment use reasonable care. ” 

AYFKM?

That, by the way, is the dumbest thing I will read today and I just left CNN.com.  Brady wants us to believe that retailers have a moral and legal culpability in the sale of their products; basically a duty to care if these products are used in the commission of crimes even if no malice or conspiracy can be proven (or is even suspected).  To some this might make sense, I mean James Holmes killed 12 and inured over 60 in the now infamous theater shooting; he used an AR-15 (and a shotgun and handgun) though its common knowledge that "assault rifle" use in crimes is in the 1%-2% range.  Brady has been on the anti "assault rifle" rage train for years, but its a politically untenable issue so it seems now they are taking a play from the Michael Moore play book and going after retailers.  Only Moore just wanted them to not sell ammo, Brady Campaign wants Injunctive Relief  against the defendants, which will essentially put them out of business if the courts find in Brady's favor. Now, this is already pretty ridiculous but after reading the complaint, there are some downright ridiculous allegations that would be funny if this wasn't so serious.  Consider the following:

"Defendants sell combat supplies, such as military-style high-capacity ammunition
magazines, ammunition, and body armor, that can be and have been used in numerous criminal shootings, including horrific mass attacks on humanity. At all relevant times they were well aware of the foreseeable risk that their products would be used in such attacks, especially if they failed to exercise reasonable care in their business practices."

This collection of words, no doubt transcribed from cocktail napkins at a personal injury attorney convention at the airport HoJo basically places all blame on objects, and people who sell those objects instead of on the man responsible for the actual crime.  

"It was highly foreseeable to Defendants that their potential customers included persons with criminal intent, including persons such as James Holmes, who was bent on committing a mass assault."

Here we have the Brady lawyers demanding the physic nonsense, or at the very least having an unrealistic expectation that the defendants could have possibly known anything at all about what Holmes was planning.  Oh, and my favorite,

"In fact, in the months leading up to the attack, James Holmes engaged in a pattern of bizarre behavior. He acted, looked, and expressed himself in a way that raised grave suspicions about his dangerousness and mental stability, so much so that during the same time period that the Defendants sold Holmes thousands of rounds of ammunition and other combat supplies, a local shooting club did not admit Holmes because his behavior was so disturbing and suspicious."

Again, the suit wants to hold the retailers liable for not being fucking psychic and while just inferred, not invading the privacy of their customers.  You literally could not make shit like this up.  Oh, it gets worse.

"Defendants established and operated businesses which attracted — and catered to — dangerous persons such as Holmes, and yet they failed to implement any reasonable safeguards to prevent dangerous people from obtaining high-capacity ammunition magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, body armor, and tear gas, and by which Holmes, and dangerous people like him, could buy such materiel online, without any human interaction or screening."

Basically, Brady wants to George Orwell your ass and they want it in a rough, 1984 style.  This case creates a dangerous precedent, and not just for those in the firearms industry.  Auto manufacturers could be sued because drunk driving, Pharmacies because prescription abuse and maybe even farmers because heart disease.  Im sure none of you are strangers to ridiculous lawsuits, but its rare to see one so potentially damaging while at the same time being so bat-shit smearing insane.  The Brady Campaign for the war on logic isnt shy about filing "dem feels-and money also" motivated lawsuits and this certainly wont be the last time they decide to ride a tragedy to a sociopolitical goal, though this is the most troubling and fundamentally stupid action ive seen them take in a long time.  Even though no one can expect that the defendants are liable, they are going to have to spend a great deal of money defending this and that alone may put them out of business.  I have some on-line shopping to do now to support each of them.