1st Circuit upholds NH District Court gun liability ruling

July 12, 2012

Boston, Massachusetts: On July 6, 2012 a three judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has upheld the ruling of Judge Paul Barbadoro of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire who held that a NH man could not be held liable for the use of his handgun in a violent crime. Gail Jones, the mother of a shooting victim, filed a lawsuit alleging that Lawrence Secord was liable for the use of his handgun by his grandson in an armed robbery that resulted in three fatalities in 2007. Secord's gun was stolen by his grandson, who broke into a locked summer cabin to obtain the firearm. Judge Bruce Marshall Selya wrote the opinion of the panel consisting of Judges Jeffrey R. Howard and O. Rogeriee Thompson. He stated in the opinion, "The record here, even when construed in the light most flattering to the plaintiff, does not show either a particularized risk of harm or a degree of foreseeability sufficient to animate this exception." Jones told the press she brought the lawsuit on to raise awareness of gun storage and risk, telling the press, "Firearms are very dangerous when they're in the wrong hands."

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit
• United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire