Dan: I don't want to debate the point. However, our Products Liability law does not apply to foreign manufacturers. That is why, for instance, Italian, Brazilian, and other nations could have manufacturers make, and sell replicas of the old Colt Peacemaker, without being faced with the same litigation that Sturm, Ruger, and Co. faced. Since the entire doctrine of Products Liability is premised on the manufacturer being the principal defendant liable for its quality and fitness for use, the Courts have not applied Products Liability to importers, distributors, and retailers. I do think that if someone improves, modifies, or otherwise works on a gun made over seas, and that ADDITIONAL WORK is found to be a cause of an injury or defect in the product, that liability would lie with any such party located in this country. The stated reasoning for not extending this Judicial doctrine to foreign made goods has to do with the Separation of Powers, and the Constitution's limit on the conducting of Foreign policy to the Executive Branch Exclusively. YOu have to remember that Strict Liability Doctrine DID NOT exist in English Common Law, and was constructed by a very activist court in the 1960s, as a judicial remedy.
