Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms: Autonomy, the Common Good, and the Courts

The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society. By Amitai Etzioni. New York: Basic Books, 1996. Pp. xx + 314.

The Limits of Privacy. By Amitai Etzioni. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Pp.

280. Recently, in the wake of the tragic cycle of school shootings, national attention has focused on the issue of gun control and whether government should enforce further restrictions on gun ownership and use. Almost contemporaneously, shooting victims and municipalities have filed lawsuits against gun manufacturers and distributors. The lawsuits charge the defendants with negligently marketing firearms to unscrupulous dealers with awareness that the guns likely will make their way into the hands of criminals.

One such lawsuit, brought by family members of shooting victims, recently resulted in a fourmillion- dollar verdict against several of the defendant gun manufacturers. Liability was premised upon the manufacturers' failure to carry out their duty to protect the public from the sale of firearms to criminals.