The lawsuit alleges that FedEx was used to ship the AR-15 style rifle used in the shooting, and UPS was used for the shipment of a bump stock, which was found at the scene. According to the lawsuit, both UPS and FedEx have policies regulating the shipment of weapons.
For UPS, their terms and conditions state that “shipments must not contain goods which might endanger human or animal life or any means of transportations, or which might otherwise taint or damage other goods being transported by UPS, or the carriage, export or import of which is prohibited by applicable law of common carriers.”
FedEx’s terms say that items like explosives, firearms, weaponry, ammunition and their parts can’t be sent internationally, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that FedEx didn’t verify the age of the shooter when shipping the AR-15 style rifle. The shooter officially purchased the gun minutes before his 18th birthday on May 16, which made him below the legal age to purchase a rifle.
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The lawsuit also alleges that FedEx did not follow federal law when it comes to the transport of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school zone. It also accuses UPS of neglecting to screen the package, which contained a Hellfire Gen 2 trigger system, before it was shipped directly to the shooter.
“UPS and FedEx acted in combination and/or collusion to provide AR-15 modified to machine guns to persons…under 18 within school zones,” the suit says. “Effectively UPS and FedEx acted as illegal gun runners to a juvenile.”
This is the same group of families that sued gunmaker Daniel Defense in May. I will admit I was skeptical of this when I first saw the headlines, but the details in this story make me think there’s merit to this action. It comes across as a breach of contract, at least to me and my non-lawyer brain. How it will fare in a courtroom, I have no idea. But it’s interesting and I’m curious to see how it turns out. Texas Public Radio and the Chron have more.