SEATTLE — Relatives of two Washington, D.C.-area sniper victims filed suit Thursday against a gun manufacturer and store linked to the Bushmaster XM15 assault rifle used in the deadly attacks.
Relatives of victims James "Sonny" Buchanan and Conrad Johnson claim the gunmaker and store showed "gross negligence" that "caused injuries and death," according to the complaint. The families are represented by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The case seeks unspecified damages and names Bull's Eye Shooter Supply of Tacoma, which either sold or lost the rifle in a theft; store owners Brian Borgelt and Charles Carr; Bushmaster Firearms Inc. of Windham, Maine; and sniper defendants John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo.
"We plan to show that less than three months after Bull's Eye received the Bushmaster assault rifle in its store, the firearm 'disappeared,' traveled across the country and was used in the sniper attacks," Seattle attorney Paul Luvera said in a statement Thursday.
"Such a swift 'time to crime' is highly indicative of grossly negligent sales and distribution practices on the part of Bull's Eye and the gun industry defendant," he said.
Buchanan's sister, Vickie Snyder of Rockville, Md., said she hoped that, ultimately, there would be more control over who obtains firearms.
"I guess I really hope the shops will be more responsible in their paperwork and the manufacturers will be more responsible about who they sell guns to," she said.
Buchanan, 39, was killed Oct. 3 while mowing grass at a car dealership near White Flint Mall; Johnson, 35, a bus driver, was killed on Oct. 22 in Aspen Hill, Md.
Muhammad and Malvo are accused of killing 13 people and wounding five others in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. They are being tried first in Virginia in separate case, and both could face the death penalty.
Dennis Henigan, legal director of the Brady Center, said at least three more families of sniper victims plan to join the lawsuit soon.
The organization has filed more than two dozen similar suits on behalf of municipalities and individuals.
"This assault rifle, which served the snipers' deadly purposes so well, did not fall from the sky into their hands," Henigan said.
The Bull's Eye owners didn't return phone calls for comment. Investigators are trying to determine how Muhammad and Malvo wound up with the rifle.
Allen Faraday, vice president of administration for Bushmaster, said the company did nothing wrong and sold the rifle legally to a firearms dealer.
"We naturally don't feel it's legitimate," Faraday said of the lawsuit. "Nowadays, lawyers are looking to file lawsuits wherever they can."
Here we go again. Let see, who has the deep pockets here. The snipers? Or the gun manufacturer? HMMMMM........
