Shooting Spree Update: 9th Circuit's Decision on Gun Manufacturer Liability Continues to Draw Criticism

On November 20, we reported on the 9th Circuit's decision permitting a claim against gun manufacturers arising from the infamous Jewish Community Center shootings. That decision continues to inspire comment and to draw criticism.

Today, Walter Olson of Overlawyered links to an extended discussion of the Constitutional and federalism issues raised by the case by law-and-baseball (!?!) weblogger, Dan McLaughlin: Gunning For Interstate Commerce. Dan is particularly troubled by the Court's permitting the manufacturers to be pursued and, possibly, punished in California when all of the firearms involved were obtained in the more loosely-regulated state of Washington. Well worth reading, especially as it ties in to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent revisitation of the law of punitive damages (on which we reported most recently here).