OLDSMAR, Fla. (AP) — A longtime Florida gun dealer agreed to abandon the industry to settle a lawsuit brought by a national gun-control group that argued his store should be held liable for selling a firearm to a mentally ill man who used it to kill his mother and her boyfriend in 2012.
The Tampa Bay Times reports owner Gerald Tanso, has sold his Oldsmar firearm store, Lock N Load, and promised to never engage in the business of selling firearms again.
The remainder of the settlement is confidential. But an attorney with the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence says Tanso also agreed to make a public statement urging firearm dealers to adopt stringent background checks, security measures and other practices to prevent straw purchasers and criminals from obtaining firearms.