ShoreShooter
Ultimate Member
- Feb 27, 2013
- 1,042
Whether or not they would be on the "hook" for civil liability really would be one heck of a court fight. They would be on the hook for attorneys fees though if their liability insurer will not pick up the tab. Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not the dealer follows a reasonable standard of care in releasing a firearm. The argument can be made that the dealer sent in the Form 77r, waited the amount of time proscribed by law, and figured that the MSP was being diligent on its end and doing an initial NICS check on these purchasers as soon as the application came in. They can also argue that MSP, per the lawsuit, was to hire more people and get back to timely review of these applications.
I think there are a lot of arguments that can be made regarding why a dealer that follows the law should NOT be liable for the actions of a purchaser after the fact.
It would be one heck of a lawsuit though and the attorneys fees would probably be substantial.
The outcome would be highly dependent on who the Judge is. And we have to remember this is MD after all.
And since the higher courts are pretty liberal, appeals would likely go against any 2A advocates.
One outcome of liberal legislators and Governors is a court system packed with liberals.