CONCORD, N.H. (Legal Newsline) - New Hampshire cops who were shot can't take to trial the company that sold the firearm, the state Supreme Court ruled Jan. 30.
The court affirmed a lower court summary judgment ruling in favor of Chester Arms, which was sued by Manchester police officers Ryan Hardy and Matthew O'Connor after they were shot by Ian MacPherson.
MacPherson had purchased a semi-automatic pistol from Chester Arms in 2016. The company asked for identification and contacted the state-run "Gun Line" to complete a required background check.
The Gun Line had three days to deny the sale, at which point Chester Arms and other dealers can complete the transaction.
As the Gun Line investigated previous charges of misdemeanor domestic violence, it communicated with the Merrimack Police Department about what family members said was MacPherson's history of schizophrenia and other delusional behavior.
However, Gun Line could not obtain supporting documentation. The three-day period ended and MacPherson bought the gun and shot the plaintiffs about six weeks later.
Those victims sued Chester Arms, arguing it should have known selling to MacPherson created an unreasonable risk of physical injury. The case involved state law pertaining to the sellers of firearms and whether Chester Arms was protected from liability and whether the law conflicted with federal laws or was unconstitutional.
"In sum, we determine that neither conflict nor field preemption prevents enforcement of (New Hampshire's) RSA 508:21," Justice James Bassett wrote.
"This conclusion is in accord with the two cases from other jurisdictions in which courts have been called upon to address whether the (federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms) preempts their state immunity statutes, which, like New Hampshire’s, provide greater protection to firearms industry actors than that provided by the PLCAA."
Those rulings came from Colorado and Indiana. The state agency running the Gun Line was also afforded protection under RSA 508:21 in the ruling.
Last year, MacPherson got another five years in a state prison psychiatric unit after being found not guilty of the shooting by reason of insanity.