New York State’s temper tantrum over its inability to destroy the weapons industry is in the crosshairs of the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) current lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court.
This week, the firearm industry trade association petitioned the bench for a writ of certiorari in NSSF v. James.
New York responded to 2022’s landmark Bruen decision by implementing every possible statute to circumvent the high court’s clear intent. Part of that response was the public nuisance law targeting the weapons industry over criminal misdeeds by third parties.
States do not have the authority to contradict federal law
The folly of this action is that it is expressly banned by the Protection in Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). This bipartisan 2005 action reacted to efforts by anti-Second Amendment state and local governments to litigate the firearms industry into the ground.
Gun rights opponents potentially could weaponize virtually unlimited taxpayer funds in lawfare against constitutionally protected businesses.
SCOTUS already addressed state and local entities filing frivolous lawsuits against firearms industry
Now, more than two decades later, New York officials and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals have chosen to ignore the law. This fact is not lost on one prominent 2A defender.
NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane accused Empire State lawmakers of directly counteracting established federal law.
“We earnestly believe that New York’s punitive public nuisance law is exactly what Congress had in mind when it passed the PLCAA with a bipartisan majority,” Keane asserted. “The PLCAA was designed to prohibit frivolous lawsuits against members of the firearm industry based on the criminal actions of remote third parties, and we continue to believe the New York statute is intended to evade the will of Congress.”
The bad news is that such legislation has already been enacted in 10 states. It’s an issue that begs for Supreme Court clarification.
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