Alphecca

Valor Gun Suit Appeal Rejected

From Yahoo/AP:

An appeals court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit that the widow of a teacher gunned down by a 13-year-old student had filed against a gun distributor.

Pam Grunow's lawsuit argued that Valor Corp. was negligent in selling the cheap handgun used in the shooting and should be held liable for the May 2000 death of her husband, Barry Grunow. He was shot in the doorway of his middle school classroom by Nathaniel Brazill, who stole the gun from the man he considered to be a grandfather.

"We certainly sympathize with Grunow and recognize the tragedy of the events that transpired. However, it was Brazill, his grandfather, and perhaps the school that were liable, not Valor," the opinion said.

A jury that heard the case in November 2002 had ordered the company to pay $1.2 million, but the trial judge threw out the verdict and Grunow appealed.

Grunow is considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court, attorney Rebecca Larson said Wednesday. "We're still of the opinion that Florida law should impose a duty on a distributor like Valor to keep these guns out of the hands of children and out of the hands of criminals on the streets," she said.