Case Summary : City of New York v. Bob Moates' Sport Shop, Inc., 253 F.R.D. 237 (E.D.N.Y. 2008)

Summary: City of New York v. Bob Moates' Sport Shop, Inc., 253 F.R.D. 237 (E.D.N.Y. 2008). In consolidated cases, plaintiff city filed a nuisance suit against defendant out-of-state firearms retailers, alleging that they illegally and negligently furnished firearms to prohibited persons, which were then trafficked into the city. The retailers had sold guns to straw purchasers, which transferred guns through illegal interstate markets to criminals in the city. The proposed settlement involved most of the retailers. The city sought an injunction abating the public nuisance by the appointment of a special master to monitor the retailers to ensure that they did not make illegal sales. Monetary penalties would be imposed for violating the judgment. The court found that the settlement was reasonable and would protect New York citizens without unduly inhibiting the retailers' abilities to lawfully carry out their enterprises. The court found that personal jurisdiction existed under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(3)(ii) based on the retailers' supplying guns to individuals, who trafficked them to the state for criminal purposes. That the retailers knew or should have known that many of the guns they sold illegally would be trafficked to New York and used in crimes committed in the city constituted purposeful availment under § 302(a)(3)(ii). Subject matter jurisdiction was not precluded by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 7903, because the retailers' participation in the straw purchases violated federal laws relating to the sale and marketing of firearms. The court further found that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Heller was inapplicable to bar subject matter jurisdiction.

Practice Note: This case is a compelling example of judicial bias and the lengths to which certain jurisdictions will go to limit Supreme Court precedent.