Florida court rules against Kmart

Shooting Industry, Oct, 1997 by Jim Schneider

The decision came in the case of a former Tampa woman who sued Kmart Corp. for selling a rifle and ammunition to her former boyfriend in 1987. He shot her in the neck a half hour later, leaving her a quadriplegic.

Associated Press reported that while the court ruled in her favor on the liability issue, it agreed with a lower court that the case should be retried because of a procedural error.

A Palm Beach jury had awarded $12 million to Deborah Kitchen, 43, now living in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"We thought all along that it was a simple matter of common sense," Kitchen's attorney, Joel Eaton, said of the liability decision.

Although disappointed the suit was not dismissed, Kmart spokeswoman Mary Lorrencz said, "We're gratified the court agreed a new trial should be conducted."

The Florida justices joined high courts in Mississippi and Washington in allowing negligence claims for selling firearms to intoxicated customers.

Anti-gun groups were quick to respond to the decision.

"Selling guns is not like selling vacuum cleaners," said Dennis Henigan, legal director for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. "The state's gun retailers can no longer sell their lethal products to high-risk persons and then walk away."

During the trial, a Kmart clerk testified that she didn't believe Thomas Knapp was drunk when she sold him the rifle. She admitted, however, that he had so much trouble writing at the time that she had to fill out the forms for him.

Knapp, 44, said he had consumed 24 beers and nearly 25 shots of whiskey during the day. He was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and is serving, a 40-year prison sentence.