PHILADELPHIA - A lawsuit the city filed against gun makers to recoup the costs resulting from gun violence was negated by an earlier state law, said a judge who dismissed the suit.
A 1995 law and an amendment four years later stripped Philadelphia and other municipalities of the power to either regulate or sue gun makers, U.S. District Judge Berle M. Schiller said Wednesday. The authority to regulate firearms lies exclusively with the state Legislature, he wrote.
The city is reviewing Schiller's ruling and is ''quite likely'' to appeal, City Solicitor Kenneth I. Trujillo said.
Philadelphia filed its lawsuit April 11, joining more than 30 cities and counties that have sued gun manufacturers. Several of those lawsuits have been dismissed.
