The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents the firearms industry, has teamed up with 14 firearm manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to sue the state of New York in federal court as revealed in a lawsuit filed just last week. The lawsuit has been filed against New York Attorney General Letitia James in her official capacity.
The law that the NSSF and the arms industry has taken issue with makes it easier to sue members of the arms industry despite the protections granted to this industry by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. This specific piece of legislation was signed by now disgraced governor Andrew Cuomo back in July but has only recently been challenged.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a formal statement in response to the lawsuit. The statement in part reads:
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement in response to a lawsuit reportedly filed today by gun manufacturers and sellers challenging a New York law that gives the state the ability to hold gun manufacturers and sellers responsible for gun violence:
“Once again, the gun lobby is trying to exert total control over this country and thwart common-sense efforts to protect lives. Make no mistake: We will aggressively defend this law and won’t back down against their continued attempts to endanger New Yorkers.”
Lawrence G. Keane, the NSSF senior vice president for government and public affairs and general counsel, said in a statement “This law is not about making our communities safer but rather, as former Governor Andrew Cuomo once proclaimed, to impose on the firearm industry a ‘death by a thousand cuts.”
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act(PLCAA) has come under a lot of fire recently by the Biden Administration as legislation that makes the arms industry immune to lawsuits. This legislation does not in fact make the arms industry immune to lawsuits, this legislation negated frivolous lawsuits from being filed against the arms industry. Gun manufacturers can still be sued for defects in their products and deceptive advertising.
From an NSSF memo:
There’s a lot of talk from President Joe Biden, antigun politicians and antigun groups about repealing the Federal law that keeps legally frivolous and harassing lawsuits against members of the firearm industry at bay. Much of this talk is based on falsehoods and half-truths, seeking to achieve gun control regulation through litigation and coming from elected officials who are misleading the public to deflect attention from their failure to effectively enforce our nation’s gun laws.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was passed with wide bipartisan support in 2005 and signed into law by President George W. Bush. The law was passed in response to a wave of lawsuits attempting to hold firearm companies liable for the criminal misuse of firearms by remote third parties. The lawsuits were really aimed at putting those companies out of business based on circumstances beyond their control. The law – PLCAA – keeps activist lawyers from placing the blame on members of the industry for the criminal misuse of legal firearms that are lawfully sold.
