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 for violence caused when people use their products.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected a facial 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.
In a 3-0 decision, Circuit Judge Eunice Lee said the law was not preempted by the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005, which shielded 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.
A spokesperson for the gun industry plaintiffs had no immediate comment. The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who defended the state law, also had no immediate comment.
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 faulted lawmakers for having “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.”
The appeals court 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)
