Could someone please explain to me the rationale for holding a gun manufacturer liable for damages if a person uses one of its guns to shoot another person?
If you buy a Wusthof knife at Williams-Sonoma and then stab someone with it, should the victim or the victim’s family be able to sue Wusthof or Williams-Sonoma? If, like James Alex Fields, the guy at the Charlottesville “United the Right” rally, you drive your Dodge Challenger into a crowd of protesters and kill someone, should the victim’s family have a cause of action against the car manufacturer or against the car dealership that sold you the vehicle?
Of course it's true that the primary purpose of an automobile is something other than running people over. And the primary purpose of a chef's knife is not stabbing people. I would similarly argue that the primary purpose of a hunting rifle is hunting non-human animals, and the primary purpose of a hand gun is self-defense.