By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a New York public nuisance law exposing the gun industry to possible civil lawsuits when people use their products in shootings and other crimes.
The 2nd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected a challenge to the law by the National Shooting Sports Foundation trade group and 14 members including Beretta, Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger.
Signed by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo in July 2021, the law lets New York, local officials and the public sue manufacturers, wholesalers and dealers for endangering people’s safety and health through sales of firearms and ammunition.
The law requires the gun industry to use reasonable controls to make sure its products do not fall into the wrong hands.
Opponents argued that the law was unconstitutional on its face.
In a 3-0 decision, Circuit Judge Eunice Lee said New York’s law was not preempted by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a 2005 federal law shielding the firearms industry from civil liability when its products are used in crimes.
Lee said Congress intended to preserve “at least some causes of action” for knowing violations of state firearms sales and marketing laws, and New York’s law was not vague about how the gun industry could comply.
She also said the law did not violate the U.S.
Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause by discriminating against interstate commerce, citing the law’s public health and safety goals and absence of specifically identified economic burdens.
SCOURGE OF GUN VIOLENCE
Lawrence Keane, general counsel of the NSSF trade group, said it is disappointed and exploring its legal options.
The 2005 federal law “codifies common law and common-sense principles to prevent baseless litigation from bankrupting an entire industry, especially one that provides the necessary means for the lawful exercise of the Second Amendment,” he said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office defended the state law, welcomed the decision.
“This decision is a massive victory for public safety and the rule of law and will help us continue to fight the scourge of gun violence to keep our communities safe,” James said.
The gun industry’s appeal was supported in court papers by 20 Republican state attorneys general and the National Rifle Association.
New York was supported by Democratic attorneys general of 17 states and Washington, D.C., plus gun control advocates such as the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
JUDGE GRUDGINGLY CONCURS
Circuit Judges Raymond Lohier and Dennis Jacobs joined Lee’s decision.
Lee was appointed to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden, Lohier by Democratic President Barack Obama, and Jacobs by Republican President George H.W. Bush.
In a grudging concurrence, Jacobs said “there is every indication” New York intended to contravene federal law, but he was “constrained to agree” the state law could be applied legally.
He nonetheless said lawmakers “contrived a broad public nuisance statute that applies solely to gun industry members and is enforceable by a mob of public and private actors.”
“The intent of Congress when it closes a door is not for states to thus jimmy a window,” Jacobs added.
Thursday’s decision upheld a May 2022 ruling by U.S.
District Judge Mae D’Agostino in Albany, New York.
The case is National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc et al v James, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-1374.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)
