The Brady Center Takes Alaska Gun Dealer to Court for Supplying Rifle to Fugitive Murderer

Simone Kim was a 26 year old man who was tragically shot and killed in Juneau, Alaska on August 4, 2006 while working as a painter at a grocery store. The shooter, Jason Coday, was a convicted felon, a mathamphetamine user, and a fugitive from justice, having fled Nevada with numerous criminal charges pending against him and in breach of his conditions of release.

Nevertheless, two days before the shooting, he was able to walk into Rayco Sales, a gun shop in Juneau owned by Ray Coxe, and walk out with a Ruger .22 rifle without submitting himself to a background check. He did this because Coxe admitted in testimony that after Coday was shown the gun, Coxe left him alone with it and other unlocked firearms on the sales floor. Coxe said Coday put money on the counter and just walked right out of the shop.

Apparently there were no security measures that indicated when a customer or a gun was leaving Rayco Sales, much less anything to secure the firearms from being taken. Coxe allegedly claims that the two video cameras were not working that day.

The lawsuit was filed against Coday, Ray Coxe and Rayco Sales that contends that the gun dealer is liable for Simone Kim’s death because of the negligent and potentially illegal providing of the gun to Coday.