resources

Prescott et al v. Slide Fire Solutions

Case Status: Active
Nevada · October 6, 2017

Summary

Following the deadliest mass shooting in American history that took place in Las Vegas at the 91 Harvest Festival, the Brady Center and Las Vegas law firm Eglet Prince filed a suit against Slide Fire Solutions, LP and other sellers, manufacturers, and marketers of bump stock devices. The lawsuit is on behalf of festival goers who suffered emotional distress as a result of the shooting and asks the defendants to pay for the costs associated with counseling and other treatment. Punitive damages are also asked for since the bump stock, evading federal law, turned a semi-automatic gun into the functional equivalent of a machine gun.

The lawsuit alleges that Slide Fire Solutions, LP was negligent in developing and marketing "bump stocks" to the general public without any reasonable restrictions, thereby subverting federal law that has highly regulated automatic fire guns for over 80 years. According to the Complaint, "this horrific assault would not and could not have occurred, with a conventional handgun, rifle, or shotgun, of the sort used by law-abiding responsible gun owners for hunting or self-defense." The complaint goes on to allege that the damage caused to the plaintiffs, "resulted from the military-style arsenal that the defendants manufactured, marketed, and sold to the public, without any reasonable measures or safeguards."

Background

Bump stock devices were created by Slide Fire Solutions, LP. In a 2010 letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Explosives ("ATF"), Slide Fire wrote that the bump stocks were intended to assist "persons whose hands have limited mobility." However, Slide Fire's inventor of the bump stock, in a 2016 interview with AmmoLand, Jeremiah Cottle stated later, that the bump stock was geared toward "people like me, who love full auto." The complaint alleges that plaintiffs are unaware of bump stocks actually being marketed or sold only to people whose hands had limited mobility. The complaint alleges that Slide Fire grossed more than $10 million in sales of bump stocks in 2010. According to Cottle, a semi-automatic rifle may cost between $800 and $1,200, while a fully automatic model can run more than $15,000.


Back to Litigation
Related Legal Cases

Types of Gun Violence

Calling out Manufacturers Supplying Criminal Firearms in Gary

Indiana Supreme Court upholds City of Gary’s claims of unlawful marketing and negligent gun sales by various gun manufacturers for contributing to gun violence in Illinois.

City of Gary v. Smith & Wesson

Types of Gun Violence

Seeking Justice in Missouri For Eight-Year-Old Killed by Father

After a 10 year legal battle, the Kansas Supreme Court held that a mother could seek justice from gun dealer who sold a firearm to her husband, a convicted felon, to kill her eight-year-old son.

Shirley v. Glass

Types of Gun Violence

Gun Dealer Held Accountable for Arming Shooters in DC Sniper Case

Brady held a gun dealer accountable for supplying firearms to the shooters who killed 17 people and injured seven others in the DC sniper attacks.

Johnson v. Bull's Eye

Types of Gun Violence

Justice for Lifelong Chicagoan Killed with a Trafficked Gun

Brady holds gun dealers accountable for selling trafficked firearms to the criminal market which were later used to shoot and kill a native son of the South Side, war veteran, and Chicago Police Officer while on duty.

Wortham v. Ed's Pawn Shop

Types of Gun Violence

Gun Manufacturer Held Accountable in Death of Seven-Year-Old

Brady sued a gun manufacturer for not including crucial safety features that would have prevented the death of a seven-year old boy.

Jefferson v. Sauers

Types of Gun Violence

Online Gun Sellers Supply Firearms Used in Shooting Rampage

Brady filed suit in case where prohibited person with domestic violence restraining order went on a shooting rampage at his wife’s workplace with firearm obtained through ArmsList.

Daniel v. Armslist

Types of Gun Violence

Amicus Brief Challenges the Charleston Loophole

Following the devastating Charleston church shooting Brady filed an amicus brief before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to close a loophole that allowed the shooting to obtain the firearm used in the shooting.

Sanders v. US

Types of Gun Violence

Pittsburgh Police Fight to Trace Crime Guns

Brady assists the city of Pittsburgh in protecting its ordinance to ensure crime guns can be adequately traced and that police can investigate firearms stolen from law-abiding gun owners.

Pittsburgh v. NRA

Types of Gun Violence

Boston v. Smith & Wesson

In the early 2000s, Boston experienced a significant increase in violence perpetrated with firearms. Boston, with the help of Brady, began litigation against the gun industry to address this gun violence problem.

Types of Gun Violence

Cities Seek Accountability Throughout 90’s

In the late 1990s, lawsuits spearheaded by Brady on behalf of over 30 major cities nationwide exposed the role of the gun industry in supplying the criminal gun market and won several landmark court decisions

City Cases

Types of Gun Violence

Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Promotes Justice for Teen Killed by CBP

Brady filed an amicus brief to support the family of an unarmed fifteen-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a rogue CBP officer. The boy's parents are seeking to hold the officer who shot their son accountable and the Supreme Court will consider whether or not the courts can recognize their claim.

Hernandez v. Mesa