## Facts

- Olen J. Kelley was shot in the chest during an armed robbery while working at a Maryland grocery store.
- The assailant used a Rohm revolver (Model RG-38S), described as a low-cost, easily concealable handgun.
- Kelley and his wife sued the gun’s manufacturer and distributor/assembler alleging strict liability (abnormally dangerous activity), strict products liability (defective design/marketing/distribution), negligence, and loss of consortium.
- The case was removed to federal court; one defendant was dismissed without prejudice, leaving the manufacturer as the remaining defendant.
- The manufacturer moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim, arguing the gun functioned as intended and liability could not be based on a third party’s criminal act.
- The federal court certified questions of Maryland law to the Court of Appeals of Maryland regarding strict liability for injuries from criminal misuse of handguns, including “Saturday Night Specials.”

## Issues

1. Whether manufacturers or marketers of handguns may be held strictly liable for injuries inflicted when a handgun is used in a criminal act under (a) abnormally dangerous activity doctrine or (b) strict products liability.
2. Whether manufacturers or marketers of “Saturday Night Specials” may be held strictly liable for criminal misuse of those weapons, even if strict liability is unavailable for handguns generally.
3. If such a rule is recognized, whether it applies retroactively or only prospectively.

## Decision

- The court held that manufacturers and marketers of handguns generally are not strictly liable for injuries resulting from criminal misuse under either abnormally dangerous activity doctrine or traditional strict products liability.
- The court recognized a new Maryland common-law strict liability cause of action against manufacturers and marketers of “Saturday Night Specials” for injuries inflicted when such weapons are used in criminal activity.
- The court limited the new strict liability rule to prospective application, covering only weapons first placed into the stream of commerce after the court’s mandate.
- Because the proceeding involved certified questions, the court answered the questions and returned the matter to federal court for further proceedings consistent with those answers.

## Legal Principles

- Abnormally dangerous activity strict liability in Maryland is tied to land-based activities and locality considerations and does not extend to the commercial manufacture and sale of handguns.
- Under traditional strict products liability, a product is not “defective” merely because it can be misused criminally; a manufacturer is not an insurer against third-party criminal acts when the product functions as intended.
- A court may, as a matter of common law, impose strict liability on a narrowly defined class of products that are particularly suited to criminal use and have minimal legitimate utility; “Saturday Night Specials” fall within that category as defined by the court.
- When adopting a new common-law strict liability rule, a court may limit application prospectively to reduce unfairness to those who relied on prior law.

## Conclusion

Maryland declined to impose strict liability on handgun manufacturers generally for harms caused by criminals, but created a prospective strict liability cause of action aimed specifically at manufacturers and marketers of “Saturday Night Specials,” reflecting a policy judgment that this subset of inexpensive, easily concealable handguns warrants different tort treatment.


Kelley v. R.G. Indus., Inc., 497 A.2d 1143 (Md. 1985)