Description:
A child was unintentionally shot and killed by a friend who was playing with the service weapon of his father, a deputy sheriff. Plaintiffs, administrators of the estate of the deceased child, sued defendant firearm manufacturer on a strict products liability theory to recover for the child’s death. Plaintiffs appealed a judgment of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, which granted defendants' motions for summary judgment. Reversing a grant of summary judgment to the manufacturer, the court found, inter alia, that the manufacturer was not entitled to summary judgment on a failure to warn claim as there was no warning that a gun could fire a chambered bullet when the magazine was removed. Defendants raised the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 7901 - 7903, which immunizes firearms manufacturers from most lawsuits, as a defense, but the court found that the PLCAA did not require dismissal of failure to warn claim against the gun manufacturer.
