Judge berates Brady group in Lucky Gunner settlement

“Those who ignite a fire should be responsible for the cost of suppressing it before it becomes a conflagration,” wrote Senior District Judge Richard P. Matsch about the Brady Campaign when he awarded $203,000 on June 17 to the retailers the organization sued. He was critical of the group for using the court to publicize its political agenda at the expense of a handful of retailers. “The Brady Center may be pursuing a righteous cause, but the defendants should not have to bear the burden of defending themselves in this inappropriate forum,” Matsch wrote. In the initial complaint, Brady claimed Lucky Gunner, the Sportman’s Guide and BTP Arms failed to properly vet James Holmes before they sold him items he would later use to kill 12 and wound 70 inside a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Along with Brady, parents of one of a victim killed in the shooting also signed on as plaintiffs. While filing lawsuits in the name of affecting public opinion is not unusual, Matsch suggested that Brady targeted the retailers to piggyback off of the high-profile incident and not because they were explicitly malicious or negligent. “The injunctive relief requested is to stop all the defendants’ commercial activities until their business practices have been changed and approved by the court. There is nothing in the record to i

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