Dealer settles suit over gunplay

[Dali Llama]

Dealer settles suit over gunplay

He had sold a revolver to a "straw buyer," who sold it on the street. A 7-year-old boy was killed.

By L. Stuart Ditzen

Inquirer Staff Writer

In a case with potentially broad implications for the firearms industry, a Pennsylvania gun dealer has agreed to pay $850,000 to a Philadelphia woman whose son was killed with a handgun the dealer sold to an illegal "straw buyer" in 1997.

Though the dealer, Jon K. Sauers, owner of Sauers Trading in South Williamsport, sold the gun legally, the purchaser, Perry J. Bruce of Williamsport, had repeatedly bought small handguns from him and resold them on the street.

On April 19, 1999, one of the guns Bruce bought from Sauers was found under a parked car in South Philadelphia by a group of children. One child playfully pointed the small Rossi revolver at 7-year-old Nafis Jefferson and pulled the trigger, firing a .44-caliber bullet into Jefferson's head.

The victim's mother, Tennille Jefferson, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit - believed to be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania - seeking to hold Sauers responsible for her son's death.

The suit was scheduled to go to trial last month, but shortly before trial Sauers agreed to settle the case with a payment of $850,000. The settlement became public on Friday when it was approved by Orphans' Court Judge Joseph D. O'Keefe.

Dennis Henigan, legal director for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which participated in the case, said the settlement was the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and has nationwide implications for gun-shop owners who sell to straw buyers.

"There is a risk of liability that is now real for gun sellers all across the country," Henigan said.

A straw purchase is one in which a person without a criminal record buys a gun legally and then resells it on the street - usually to someone with a criminal record.

Henigan said the settlement reflects a recognition - at least by one gun dealer - that selling a gun to a straw buyer "creates the risk that an innocent person could be shot," even in an accidental setting.

"These kinds of transactions occur every day in gun shops in every state in the country," Henigan added.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Sauers said: "I don't believe I want to say anything at all."

His lawyer, Joseph F. Van Horn Jr., declined to comment.

Mark J. LeWinter, lawyer for Tennille Jefferson, said he hoped the settlement would discourage other gun dealers from "turning a blind eye" to straw buyers.

"They just pretend it's not happening when they know better," LeWinter said. "Hopefully, lawsuits like this will have a deterrent effect."

The Brady Center has filed several such suits against gun dealers.

Federal law-enforcement authorities estimate that straw purchases at gun shops account for nearly one-third of the illegal guns recovered from crimes in America.

But only about 1 percent of the nation's 104,000 licensed gun shops are estimated to be responsible for most of those sales.

Records in the Jefferson case show that Sauers sold 10 small handguns between 1994 and 1997 to Bruce, who was unemployed and a self-described drug user. But he had no record and could pass a background check enabling him to buy guns. He paid Sauers $200 cash for each gun, and then he resold each on the street for $400.

In 1998, Bruce pleaded guilty to federal gun-trafficking charges. Sauers was investigated, but no charges were filed against him.

Sauers testified in a deposition in the Jefferson case that he complied with state and federal law, properly filling out all forms in each sale to Bruce.

But he never asked Bruce why he was buying all the guns.

Asked why he never questioned Bruce, Sauers replied in the deposition: "I don't know what my reason would be to ask him. I didn't think it was any of my business."

Police believe the gun that killed Nafis Jefferson made its way into the hands of a drug dealer in South Philadelphia who stashed it under a car on Sigel Street, where the children found it.

[Leverdude]

So I guess that means if I get drunk & run over an old lady the dealership what sold me my truck is responsible? Hogwash.
They only went after the dealer because the other loser had nothing to take. Mostly these garbage lawsuites get dissmised as they should but it wont take too many like this to set a precedent that need not be set. JMO.

Guess somebody shoulda told that kid not to point guns at people, that mighta helped. My kids  know better. They not only wouldnt point one at a person but wont even touch one unless told to & the first thing they do is open it to check if its loaded, even cap guns. Thats the rule & if they dont like it then they can go ride their bike or something.

People really oughtta give some thought to educating youngsters instead of just sheilding them from danger. We cant always be there & they need the tools to do whats right in a given situation. Everybody tells kids not to talk to strangers, look both ways before crossing a street & such, why turn a blind eye when it comes to guns.  :roll:

[Dali Llama]

Mostly these garbage lawsuites get dissmised as they should but it wont take too many like this to set a precedent that need not be set.

That be very unfortunate reality of life in today's modern society, say Dali Llama.  :cry:  :oops:

[dukkillr]

as is usually the case with the stuff dali posts... this isn't being addressed fairly.  This isn't a judicial ruling.  This doesn't produce a legal precedent.  This was never decided by a jury.  The facts of this case will never be part of public record.  You will NEVER KNOW exactly what the gun dealer knew, or why.  If you're angry, blame the guy who settled because he never gave himself the right to challenge this in court.  He gave up his right to appeal (where these cases are usually overturned).  

It is not analagous to your drunk driving example either.  If a car dealer sold you a new car when you were obviously too drunk to drive it would be closer.  To be exact it would be analagous to a dealer selling the car to your friend when he "knew or should have known" that the car was going to a person too drunk to buy his own car without raising questions.  Now how mad would you be if that second-hand buyer ran over your daughter?

This issue is, of course, the "knew or should have known" part of the analysis.  Well did the dealer have such knowledge?  I don't know, but my guess is that if his attorney advised him to settle (for such a large amount of money) there was probably some evidence that would tend to show that he did know, or should have known.  If there was no evidence than he is to blame for bowing to unreasonable suits.

[Dali Llama]

as is usually the case with the stuff dali posts... this isn't being addressed fairly.  

:roll:  :roll:  :roll: Dali Llama say he thought there be no personal attacks allowed? :?  :?  :?

[dukkillr]

since you didn't write it, it's not an attack against you, the phrase i used was, "as is usually the case with the STUFF DALI POSTS..."  the noun described is "stuff dali posts", the negative adjectives were directed at that noun, not a subpart of that noun, which would have been you, "dali".  

besides, where did this hyper-sensitivity come from?

[Dali Llama]

since you didn't write it, it's not an attack against you, the phrase i used was, "as is usually the case with the STUFF DALI POSTS..."  the noun described is "stuff dali posts", the negative adjectives were directed at that noun, not a subpart of that noun, which would have been you, "dali".  

Dali Llama suggest that there now likely exist implication, fomented in pertinent part by dukkillr, that Dali exercise poor discretion regarding what he post.

[dukkillr]

So the substance of my point is what I'd like to discuss... If dali thinks i've insulted him then i'm sorry.  I don't believe that anything I said was insulting or unfair.

[Dali Llama]

If dali thinks i've insulted him then i'm sorry.  I don't believe that anything I said was insulting or unfair.

Dali Llama offer apropos comment of Julius Caesar:

It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.