Alphecca

NSSF Files Appeal in NYC Gun Suit

In a follow-up to this post of mine comes word that New York City has been granted permission to proceed with their lawsuit against several gun manufacturers. From a NSSF press release:

A federal judge in New York City today ruled that the city may ignore federal law and proceed with its frivolous lawsuit against firearms companies.

Industry defendants had filed a motion to dismiss the suit after Congress passed the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" in October. While the new law was intended to protect firearms industry companies from lawsuits like New York's, Eastern District Judge Jack B. Weinstein opted to deny the motion and side with the city.

Firearms industry defendants plan to appeal the decision immediately.
"Judge Weinstein's decision was not only predictable, but intellectually dishonest and blatantly biased, given his decade-long track record of aiming to derail the firearms industry," said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade organization for the firearms industry.

"New York City's lawsuit is precisely the type of suit the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was designed to prevent. During debate in each chamber of Congress, Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Cliff Sterns -- the sponsors of the bill -- both referenced the city's case as a quintessential example of a lawsuit the act would prevent," Keane said.

Here's the New York Times on it:

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that New York City's lawsuit against gun manufacturers and distributors can go forward, despite new federal legislation devised to protect gun makers from such lawsuits.

The ruling, by Judge Jack B. Weinstein of United States District Court, was a significant victory for the city, which has argued that some gun makers and sellers know about the flood of handguns into the underground market, and have the power to minimize it by relatively simple means, but refuse to do so.
In his ruling, Judge Weinstein postponed a trial so the gun manufacturers could appeal.

Gun makers named in the suit include Beretta U.S.A., Browning Arms, Colt Manufacturing, Glock and Smith & Wesson.

The judge ruled that the new law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, does not apply to the city's lawsuit because it falls under a narrow exception that allows lawsuits against the gun makers if their sales or marketing practices violate state or federal statutes.

The ruling contained one victory for the gunmakers: the judge rejected the city's argument that the new law was unconstitutional.

The city argues that the firearms makers and distributors, by failing to monitor retail dealers closely enough, allow guns to end up in the hands of criminals. As result, the gun makers, under the city's argument, have created "a condition that negatively affects the public health or safety," and thus have violated the state's nuisance law.

The city also argues that the manufacturers sell excess guns in states other than New York with laws that are more lax, thus allowing them to be more easily bought and smuggled to New York City.

And then there's this:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday praised the ruling, saying in a statement that the killing of Police Officer Dillon Stewart, who was shot on Monday with a gun bought legally and later stolen in Florida, was "deadly evidence that the scourge of guns in New York City is ever present."

He said the lawsuit was devised to stop the flow of illegal guns because the firearms industry is "completely unwilling" to take steps to control their own dealers. He called the new legislation "shameful," and said it should be called "Protection of Lethal Commerce in Arms Act."