The schizophrenic nature of the U.S. Supreme Court when it pertains to Second Amendment rights is front and center this week after the bench turned away a challenge to the New York state gun control regime.
National Shooting Sports Foundation v. Letitia James should have been a slam dunk, and the outcome is a head-scratcher. New York has a public nuisance law, which is not a bad thing if it’s used to go after those who make life difficult for good citizens.
2021 law is nothing but a ploy to grind the weapons industry into oblivion
Empire State leaders for years sought to make gun rights virtually unattainable. With this week’s SCOTUS decision, it’s obvious the high court does not have the same view of personal freedoms and individual responsibility as the plaintiffs.
Now, New York is seemingly free to target the constitutionally protected weapons industry, as if manufacturers themselves committed crimes.
The NSSF, along with Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Beretta, Glock, Sig Sauer, and other industry giants, argued that a 2021 state law targeting gun rights runs roughshod over the more than two-decade-old Federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
High court swung the doors wide open for attacks on weapons manufacturers
Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, warned in 2021 that the law essentially nullifies the PLCAA and is merely pandering to anti-gunners’ radical base.
“This law is based on the same legal understanding that would allow victims of drunk drivers to sue Ford and Budweiser for the criminal acts of an individual,” Keane cautioned. “This law is not legal accountability. It is political posturing.”
Exactly. And in 2005, Congress did not attempt to shield the weapons industry from responsibility for harmful actions.
It did, however, attempt to stop the ridiculous lawfare emitting from gun rights opponents who have a virtually bottomless pit of taxpayer dollars to drive Second Amendment-related companies into the ground for good.
NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva added that the industry trade group “sincerely believes that those criminals who illegally misuse lawful products should be held responsible for the harms they cause when they commit their crimes.”
Make no mistake, this is not about public safety. If New York officials truly cared about this critical issue, they would be more concerned about violent criminals themselves.
Of course, the anti-gun lobby had a field day with a clear victory. Gifford piped in immediately to crow about more suppression of gun rights.
Executive Director Emma Brown lamented the PLCAA as holding back her group’s and lawmakers’ efforts to dismantle the Second Amendment.
“Congress’s gift of broad immunity to the gun industry was the biggest special interest giveaway in American history, and it must be repealed,” the activist declared.
If Brown truly believes the PLCAA has such a status, she is woefully ignorant of the nation’s history.
No less than New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) called the high court’s decision “a massive victory in our fight against gun violence.” It is not, but she and her colleagues do not have the stomach to do the work that will actually reduce crime and protect their citizens.
And New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D), who wrote the 2021 law, claimed it would enhance public safety.
“New York has an obligation to protect the health and safety of every resident, and any industry–including members of the gun industry–impacting New Yorkers has to take reasonable steps to do the same,” Myrie said.
But there is already pushback in Congress.
Last week, gun rights supporters introduced the Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts, or SHOT, Act. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), one of the bill’s sponsors, lashed out at those attempting to pin violent crime on an industry and not the perpetrators.
“Litigious activists should not be allowed to bankrupt lawful businesses for crimes they did not commit,” Crapo said. And that is the crux of the issue, one that is not going to go away quietly.
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