Dive Brief:

• Using the liability lawsuits against the tobacco industry as a bellwether, gun lobbyists have been successful in getting laws in place that protect the gun industry from liability even when their products are used in crimes. But some suits are going forward even in states where such laws were previously deemed protective. 

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. faces a lawsuit in Pennsylvania that alleges a Wal-Mart employee allowed an underage, intoxicated customer to buy bullets that were later used to commit homicide. The suit, brought on behalf of the victims’ families, says that the Wal-Mart employee failed to ask for the identification that would have prevented the purchase. 

• Wal-Mart spokesperson Randy Hargrove told Reuters that it’s the retailer’s policy to verify age in guns or ammunition purchases and that point-of-sales registers prompt them at the time of purchase. But in this case, the purchase would have been allowed to someone under 18 because it could have been used in a rifle.

Dive Insight:

While gun control laws have been difficult to pass in Congress and in many states and municipalities, some lawsuits against dealers have been successful in recent years.

The method of using the courts was successful against the tobacco industry, which was similarly protected thanks in large part to a powerful lobby. But in “big tobacco’s” case, there was a paper trail of tobacco executives denying the health effects of cigarettes and other tobacco products, and retailers were rarely the focus of such law suits.

Retailers like Wal-Mart that sell guns and ammunition could find themselves in court—even losing in some cases—depending on the nature of the case. If a trend takes hold, it could become troublesome for retailers, especially in an era when gun sales have been falling, despite surges in sales after mass shootings or whenever politicians signal renewed interest in backing gun control.

In the Pennsylvania case, the victims’ families are aiming for negligence in Wal-Mart’s sale of ammunition to an underage and intoxicated customer.

Shira Goodman, executive director of Philadelphia-based gun-control group CeasefirePA, told Reuters that negligent behavior by sellers could be effective against retailers despite the protective laws.

“I think it does show some desire to hold people responsible in innovative ways,” she said