Online ammo stores sued by parents of Aurora shooting victim

The websites that supplied Aurora, Colo. shooter James Holmes with ammunition, body armor, and tear gas were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence on behalf of one of the victim’s parents.

The lawsuit alleges the websites were negligent in supplying Holmes with much of the equipment he used to kill 12 people and wound more than 58 others in an Aurora movie theater on July 20, 2012.

“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 in a press release.“If businesses choose to sell military-grade equipment online, they must screen purchasers to prevent arming people like James Holmes.”

According to the Brady Center announcement, the lawsuit names as defendants Lucky Gunner (BulkAmmo.com), which allegedly sold Holmes more than 4,000 rounds of ammunition; The Sportman’s Guide, which allegedly sold Holmes a 100-round drum ammunition magazine and 700 rounds; BulletProofBodyArmorHQ.com, which allegedly sold Holmes multiple pieces of body armor; and BTP Arms, which allegedly sold him two canisters of tear gas.

The lawsuit does not challenge the right of law-abiding people to bear arms, or of businesses to sell potentially lethal products to law-abiding citizens. “This lawsuit is about the unreasonably dangerous operation of businesses that negligently supply combat supplies and other materiel to the criminal market,” the complaint states.

The National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun-rights advocacy group, did not respond to several requests for comment. But legal experts are skeptical about the suit’s likely success.

“It sounds to me like an untested legal move on the part of the Brady Center,” said Robert Spitzer,a professor at SUNY Cortland and the author of five books about gun policy, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I would be skeptical how successful they’re likely to be.”

Spitzer’s comments were made in light of legislation passed by Congress in 2005 that effectively shields the gun industry from liability lawsuits. Following the December 2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 elementary children were killed, the Obama administration proposed a sweeping gun control legislative initiative which failed to pass Congress. The Senate then took up a gun-buyer background check bill in early 2013, but it failed to receive the needed 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and come to the floor for a vote.

The plaintiffs in the suit are not seeking monetary damages other than legal fees and costs. They want an injunction requiring the defendants to “reform their business practices.”