What are the legal theories?
Kairys: First, product liability law doesn’t help you in this case. If a product doesn’t have a defect, you don’t get anywhere under product liability law. Of course, the problem of handguns is that they work too well. Some are defective, and you can go after the manufacturer in those cases under product liability law. But in most cases, the handguns work too well, they are too cheap, they are too accessible. So I started to branch out. I found that the best theories were the most traditional torts. No law reform was required. Public nuisance and negligence. Those are the theories that would be developed in this litigation. MM: What was the response to your theory? Kairys: In early 1997, I presented the idea first to the task force. We all thought that it was a good idea. The task force asked that I write a memo that could be presented to the mayor. I’ve known the mayor for a long time, but not personally well. We have mainly been on opposite sides of some issues, but we’ve also worked
