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Interview With David Lamongello

Aired April 28, 2003 - 15:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Detective David Lamongello was staking out a gasoline station in New Jersey when a career criminal shot him and a fellow officer. Both of them were wounded. And they have now filed suit against a West Virginia pawn shop that sold the pistol to a gun trafficker. There is now, as we were telling you a moment ago, NRA-backed legislation under consideration in the Congress that would ban that kind of lawsuit.
Former Detective David Lamongello joins us now from our New York bureau. Mr. Lamongello, I don't know if you heard Wayne LaPierre who is executive vice president of the NRA, but basically, he said that lawsuits like yours make no sense, that there are already federal laws on the book that prevent this kind of from happening, that prevent illegal gun sales from taking place.

DAVID LAMONGELLO, FORMER ORANGE, N.J. POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, that's just ridiculous. A judge in West Virginia already denied their dismissal charges of their case. So a judge already has said our case is valid.

WOODRUFF: What, exactly, are you asking for here?

LAMONGELLO: Well, just to have gun dealers and manufacturers be more responsible. And if they, you know, need to think about who they sell their guns to, not sell 12 guns at one time or 112 guns at one time, then my job is accomplished.

WOODRUFF: Let me just quote to you something else that Wayne LaPierre of the NRA said a minute ago. I was asking him not only about your suit but another filed by the widow of a victim of one of the Washington, D.C.-area sniper victims. He said what's happened is that people who are against guns lost the battle in Congress, he said they've now teamed up with, what he called, "greedy trial lawyers" to try to get something done. But he said the whole thing is completely misguided.

LAMONGELLO: Let me just say I'm not against guns. I feel that everybody has a right to bear arms. I still own a gun. That's not what this is about. This is about holding the manufacturers and gun distributors accountable for who they sell their guns to, to gun traffickers to straw purchasers. They need to be held accountable for who they sell their guns to.

WOODRUFF: But again the point of the National Rifle Association is that gun manufacturers and gun dealers shouldn't be held responsible for the acts of a third party criminal.

LAMONGELLO: Well, when it comes to a straw purchaser, the practice of gun traffickers is multiple purchases and straw purchases. And in my case..

WOODRUFF: Straw purchaser, we should say, is like an intermediary. This somebody who traffics in guns.

LAMONGELLO: That's correct. And in my case, it happened both instances.

WOODRUFF: And so your point is why should the -- I guess I'm asking -- why should the dealer then be held liable for what somebody on the outside has done?

LAMONGELLO: They just need to be held responsible for who they sell their guns to. If they're not screening right, and if they're not holding the responsibility to the people they sell the guns to, you know, they're the ones who make and sells the guns. They need to be held accountable.

WOODRUFF: And when we put that question to Mr. LaPierre, he said what needs to happen the criminals who use guns need to be thrown in jail and kept there.

LAMONGELLO: That's after the fact. You know, usually, they want to react after the fact. They need to do something before the crime is committed.

WOODRUFF: And you're saying that's not being done now?

LAMONGELLO: Absolutely not.

WOODRUFF: All right, David Lamongello is a former New Jersey police detective. We thank you very much for talking with us.

LAMONGELLO: Thanks for having me.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 28, 2003 - 15:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Detective David Lamongello was staking out a gasoline station in New Jersey when a career criminal shot him and a fellow officer. Both of them were wounded. And they have now filed suit against a West Virginia pawn shop that sold the pistol to a gun trafficker. There is now, as we were telling you a moment ago, NRA-backed legislation under consideration in the Congress that would ban that kind of lawsuit.
Former Detective David Lamongello joins us now from our New York bureau. Mr. Lamongello, I don't know if you heard Wayne LaPierre who is executive vice president of the NRA, but basically, he said that lawsuits like yours make no sense, that there are already federal laws on the book that prevent this kind of from happening, that prevent illegal gun sales from taking place.

DAVID LAMONGELLO, FORMER ORANGE, N.J. POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, that's just ridiculous. A judge in West Virginia already denied their dismissal charges of their case. So a judge already has said our case is valid.

WOODRUFF: What, exactly, are you asking for here?

LAMONGELLO: Well, just to have gun dealers and manufacturers be more responsible. And if they, you know, need to think about who they sell their guns to, not sell 12 guns at one time or 112 guns at one time, then my job is accomplished.

WOODRUFF: Let me just quote to you something else that Wayne LaPierre of the NRA said a minute ago. I was asking him not only about your suit but another filed by the widow of a victim of one of the Washington, D.C.-area sniper victims. He said what's happened is that people who are against guns lost the battle in Congress, he said they've now teamed up with, what he called, "greedy trial lawyers" to try to get something done. But he said the whole thing is completely misguided.

LAMONGELLO: Let me just say I'm not against guns. I feel that everybody has a right to bear arms. I still own a gun. That's not what this is about. This is about holding the manufacturers and gun distributors accountable for who they sell their guns to, to gun traffickers to straw purchasers. They need to be held accountable for who they sell their guns to.

WOODRUFF: But again the point of the National Rifle Association is that gun manufacturers and gun dealers shouldn't be held responsible for the acts of a third party criminal.

LAMONGELLO: Well, when it comes to a straw purchaser, the practice of gun traffickers is multiple purchases and straw purchases. And in my case..

WOODRUFF: Straw purchaser, we should say, is like an intermediary. This somebody who traffics in guns.

LAMONGELLO: That's correct. And in my case, it happened both instances.

WOODRUFF: And so your point is why should the -- I guess I'm asking -- why should the dealer then be held liable for what somebody on the outside has done?

LAMONGELLO: They just need to be held responsible for who they sell their guns to. If they're not screening right, and if they're not holding the responsibility to the people they sell the guns to, you know, they're the ones who make and sells the guns. They need to be held accountable.

WOODRUFF: And when we put that question to Mr. LaPierre, he said what needs to happen the criminals who use guns need to be thrown in jail and kept there.

LAMONGELLO: That's after the fact. You know, usually, they want to react after the fact. They need to do something before the crime is committed.

WOODRUFF: And you're saying that's not being done now?

LAMONGELLO: Absolutely not.

WOODRUFF: All right, David Lamongello is a former New Jersey police detective. We thank you very much for talking with us.

LAMONGELLO: Thanks for having me.

WOODRUFF: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com