Pawnshop Settles With Families Store Sold Pistol Used In ‘93 Shootings At San Francisco Office Building

The Nevada pawnshop that sold an assault pistol used in the 1993 massacre of eight people at 101 California St. has agreed to pay $150,000 to the victims’ survivors.

Attorney Dennis Hennigan, director of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in Washington, D.C., announced the settlement with Camco Inc., parent company of the Las Vegas store called Superpawn.

“Camco’s willingness to settle the suit sends a message to other gun sellers that there is a cost associated with the sale of assault weapons to the general public,” Hennigan said.

On July 1, 1993, Gian Luggi Ferri walked into the towering office building armed with two TEC-DC9 semi-automatic assault pistols and invaded the now-dissolved Pettit & Martin law firm, where he killed eight and wounded six before shooting himself to death.

Two victims in the rampage - a husband and wife - attended undergraduate school at Gonzaga University in Spokane.

John Scully was killed when he tried to save his wife, Michelle, who worked at the law firm. Michelle Scully was seriously injured, but survived the shooting with injuries to her chest and right arm.

Spokane pawnshop employees thought the settlement sent the wrong message.

“My personal opinion is no one should be liable except the guy who had the gun in his hand,” said Jim Hardung, a salesman at Dutch’s Inc.

Scott Karlson, an owner of Axel’s Pawnshop, agreed.

“I sell crowbars here,” he said. “All you’d have to is whack someone in the head once and it would kill them. Should my insurance company pay the victim?

“Of course not,” Karlson said.

Hennigan filed a lawsuit on behalf of the survivors’ families accusing the gun maker, Navegar Inc. of Miami; USA Magazines, manufacturer of the weapons’ ammunition carrier; and the pawnshop of engaging in “ultra-hazardous activity” by selling “weapons of war and mass destruction.”

The Camco settlement eliminates the second defendant in the case. Superior Court Judge James Warren recently dismissed allegations against the magazine maker, leaving only Navegar as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Authorities were never able to determine where Ferri bought the second assault pistol.

Hennigan said the case probably will go to trial in the fall. He said the surviving families agreed to use the $150,000 settlement on the lawsuit, to cover costs of depositions, travel and expert witnesses at trial.

Carol Kingsley, whose husband, Jack Berman, was one of those slain by Ferri, said Thursday the gun manufacturer remains in the sights of her attorneys.

“That’s the party that we really expected to be held accountable for this,” Kingsley said. “They were the ones who decided to manufacture this gun, put it into mainstream commerce and make it available to people on the street. … They’re ultimately responsible for the assault weapon that was used.” Nearly three years after the tragic events in the downtown highrise, Kingsley said she and her son, Zachary, 4, have resumed their lives together.

“We’re doing fine,” she said. “You can’t replace the loss of a husband and your child’s father. That’s a loss we’re always going to be living with. But we’re living good, happy lives.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Dennis J. Opatrny San Francisco Examiner Staff writer Gita Sitaramiah contributed to this report.