Smith & Wesson settled a lawsuit that will open the floodgates of litigation and liability for gun manufacturers.

Lawyers representing a former Wichita boy who suffered brain damage in 1998 when another boy shot him said Wednesday that they had reached a landmark settlement with the gunmaker, Smith & Wesson.

“The settlement marks the first time a gun manufacturer has paid to settle a claim for failing to childproof a gun,” said a statement by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C.

Smith & Wesson said in a statement that “there was no deficiency with this firearm.”

A 15 year old took the gun from his parents’ dresser and accidentally shot his 8 year old brother (thinking the gun was not loaded). And the gun manufacturer settled!? That is nuts.

By this logic, a knife manufacturer is responsible when I leave my butcher knife on the counter and my son grabs it and accidentally cuts his brother. Or when I leave matches on the dresser and my kid burns the house down the manufacturer of the matches is liable. Or … the list goes on. It’s insanity. Let’s accept a little personal responsibility for our actions.

SayUncle agrees, as does AlphaPatriot. And Clayton Cramer thinks that the tables should be turned:

Wouldn’t it be fair if a few attorneys with some time on their hands decided to file suit against the Violence Policy Center, the Brady Campaign, and some of the other gun control lobbying groups, on behalf of victims of violence? The argument would be something like this:

1. Gun control laws that make it difficult for law-abiding adults to carry a gun for self-defense increase the risk of injury or death to good people because armed victims deter criminal attack. Not every gun control law fits this description, of course, and the suit can stipulate that some gun control laws are either neutral, or may actually reduce crimes. However, laws that effectively prevent law-abiding adults from carrying a concealed weapon for self-defense are not in that category.