Freddie Hamilton’s 17-year-old son, Njuzi Ray, was killed in a random shooting three years ago. There’s little doubt that the 9mm weapon used to kill the New York teen was obtained illegally. Hamilton says gun makers “are producing some very, very lethal things, and they have some responsibility to make sure they don’tget into the wrong hands.”
So Hamilton is suing 43 handgun manufacturers. Hamilton and her attorneys have gained confidence from what has happened in a similar nationwide suit against five major tobacco companies. That suit claims that for years tobacco companies deliberately controlled nicotine levels so smokers became addicted. After years of facing down such charges -and swearing before Congress that they weren’t true -tobacco company executives are in a bind. Evidence seems to indicate that tobacco companies not only controlled the nicotine levels in cigarettes, but lied to Congress about it. Several weeks ago, Liggett Group, one of the companies named in the suit, agreed to settle out of court and pay plaintiffs millions of dollars.
