One of the biggest online gun markets in the U.S. can be held liable for negligence for a private sale of a weapon used in a fatal shooting spree, Wisconsin's highest court said in the first ruling of its kind.
The case was filed against Armslist.com, which allegedly sold a gun to a domestic-violence abuser who used it to murder his estranged wife and several coworkers in a 2012 attack on a spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said Thursday in a statement.
The shooter was prohibited from buying guns but evaded the background check because it was a private sale, according to the statement. Armslist allegedly entered the online gun business after Craigslist, Amazon.com Inc. and other sites barred gun sales to protect the public.
"There are far too many bad actors out there, particularly unlicensed online gun sellers, who are putting profits ahead of safety," Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Center, which represented the plaintiffs in the case. "This court decision puts sites like Armslist on notice that they can and will be held accountable."
The ruling reversed a decision by a lower court that the federal Communications Decency Act barred the case.
"The act does not protect a website operator from liability that arises from its own conduct in facilitating user activity, as is the case here," the court said in its unanimous ruling. The lawsuit over whether the website is liable or not can now go forward.
The case was brought on behalf of Yasmeen Daniel, whose mother was killed in the attack. Guns sold through Armslist have been tied to other previous crimes, the Brady Center said in a statement. The Brady Center is named after Jim Brady, former President Ronald Reagan's press secretary who was wounded in an assassination attempt.
