Legal fund started for Northern Nevada gun dealer who sold weapon to Gilroy shooter
By Sam Gross
Reno Gazette Journal
August 7, 2019
The Northern Nevada gun dealer who sold the gun used by the shooter in the Gilroy, California, mass shooting said on his Facebook page that he is facing “in theory, a minimum of 15 lawsuits” from victims of the shooting.
The post and ensuing comments, posted Tuesday but since deleted, went on to speculate that the number of lawsuits filed against Big Mike’s Guns & Ammo could be over 50.
A GoFundMe has been started to help with “frivolous lawsuits” leveled against the business and owner Michael Christopherson, and to “provide additional safety measures to keep his family safe form ongoing threats of harm.”
That fund, which was started by a customer and friend, according to another post to the company’s Facebook page, has raised $425 as of Wednesday morning.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Christopherson said he did not want to speak to the press.
It is unclear if any suits against the company or its owner have been filed yet, or if they are just anticipating litigation.
Big Mike’s Guns & Ammo, a home-based gun and ammunition seller based in the city of Fallon about an hour east of Reno, sold the firearm used in the Gilroy attack to 19-year-old shooter Santino William Legan.
Three people were killed and over a dozen wounded in the July 28 attack during the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California. Legan, who lived in an apartment in Walker Lake, Nevada, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Gilroy attack was the first of three mass shootings that rocked the nation over the course of a week. Between the shooting in Gilroy and attacks at an El Paso Walmart and at a bar in Dayton, Ohio, a total of 35 people were killed.
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