The judge in a landmark gun trial in Brooklyn yesterday dropped 15 distributors from the case, leaving about 30 manufacturers to face charges they fueled an illegal gun market.
Federal Judge Jack Weinstein granted a defense motion to dismiss the 15 defendants – who argued that there was not enough evidence to hold them liable in the civil lawsuit.
The plaintiffs contend gun manufacturers and distributors fostered an underground market by saturating states that have weak gun laws with more weapons than they could sell to locals.
Those excess guns find their way to places such as New York, where stringent gun laws make it tough to get a gun legally.