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Oh Lord, not THIS crap again...
Look, this is no different from suing a Chevvy dealership because a number of their cars got used in bank robberies.
I work in a gunshop on weekends. The line you always walk is this:
Let's say a "straw buyer" connected with some gangbangers walks into my store. In all likelihood, he's a gangbanger himself, but just happens to have a clean criminal record, permitting him to pass the NICS background check. Dispensing with the bullshit, we all know that this person is, probably, going to be dressed and talking a certain way. In my area he's probably going to be either Caucasian or Hispanic, so "race" is a much less important factor, but the gang culture does have an unmistakeable way of branding its' members.
If I refuse to sell a weapon to this person, after they have completed and passed the NICS check, I stand a good chance of being sued. If this person takes it into his head to do so, he could sue the store, me personally, and my boss personally for "racial profiling" or some other such crap. Worse yet, there's a chance he might WIN, since he -did- pass the NICS check, and my refusal was based upon him fitting a "profile" ( gangbanger ) with which I was uncomfortable.
Such a thing puts retailers between a rock and a hard place in regards to refusing sales.
Finally, what happens with a product after it has left the store is not the dealers responsibility. Again, back to my car-dealer anaology; it's as if someone was sueing Rooster Bush Chevrolet because two of their cars got used to rob a bank. Once an item is removed from your ability to physically control it, you are relieved of your responsibility for its' use. I am not responsible if one of my personal weapons is stolen and used to commit a crime; nor am I responsible if some asshole takes a legal product, purchased in accordance with the law, and breaks the law with it.
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