Years ago, a favorite tactic of the anti-gun left was to sue firearm manufacturers because a gun they made was used to hurt someone. They pretended that the companies were responsible because…Well, I was never clear on what exactly the “because” was, but I figured it was because they had the nerve to sell them.
Congress passed a law to stop that, but now states are trying to worm their way around it, while others are trying to put a stop to it.
Utah, for example, just became the latest state to offer protections for the firearm industry from these politically-motivated lawsuit that are cropping up once again.
And the National Shooting Sports Federation, the trade group representing the gun and outdoor industry, is thrilled to see it.
NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praises Utah’s Gov. Spencer Cox for signing House Bill 214, Firearms Liability Amendments, into law in a ceremony in Salt Lake City. The NSSF-supported House Bill 214 amends civil liability laws to protect firearm and firearm accessory related businesses. The new law prevents foreign nationals and political subdivisions from launching junk lawsuits and creating civil liabilities for manufacturers, sellers and trade organizations. NSSF’s Nephi Cole, Director, Government Relations – State Affairs (fifth from right), was on hand for the signing ceremony.
“Utah is leading the nation in adding protections for members of the firearm and ammunition industry from activists who engage in lawfare to enact gun control measures through frivolous litigation,” Cole said. “Utah lawmakers recognized that malevolent actors have ignored the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to bring frivolous lawsuits against members of the firearm and ammunition industry for the criminal misuse of lawfully sold firearms. With Governor Cox’s signature, Utah is making clear that gun control advocates will not be allowed to launch junk lawsuits against the firearm industry in Utah.”
House Bill 214, Firearms Liability Amendments, blocks lawsuits gun control advocates have pursued in an attempt to circumvent the bipartisan PLCAA. This new Utah law specifically addresses the so-called “predicate exception” and adds PLCAA-like protections to firearm accessories and products intended to be attached to and used in conjunction with firearms and ammunition (e.g., suppressors).
Utah is the first state to pass the NSSF’s state liability reform language and brings added protection against attempts by gun control advocates to force “legislation through litigation” and impose gun control measures that have been expressly rejected by legislative bodies. The PLCAA blocks lawsuits that attempt to hold firearm and ammunition industry companies liable for the criminal actions of third parties who misuse the industry’s legal, lawful sold, non-defective products. More specifically, this commonsense law ensures that responsible and law-abiding federally licensed manufacturers and retailers of firearms and ammunition are not unjustly blamed in federal and state civil actions for “the harm caused by those who criminally or unlawfully misuse” these products that function as designed and intended.
Leftists have been trying to find a way to rip apart the PLCAA since before the ink was dry. After a lawsuit against Remington following the Sandy Hook shooting–which was settled not by Remington, but their insurance company–anti-gunners have figured they finally found a way around it. That lawsuit alleged that the issue wasn’t that they made the gun, but that they marketed in a way that would be attractive to the young person who eventually became a mass killer.
Sorry, but I can’t call someone who murders children a man. I just can’t do it.
Anyway, they attacked the marketing, and that was allowed to stand, so now everyone is trying to use that as a blueprint for their attacks on the firearm industry.
To this day, they’re upset that people can buy guns. They’re upset that the gun industry is following the law, but not the whims of people who want to see the industry bankrupted and dissolved. They want that because they don’t need to enact gun control if there are no guns for sale, now do they?
Utah is the latest state to recognize this and offer protections to companies. That’s going to look attractive to companies that operate in states hostile toward their business.
Now, a whole lot more states need to step up and do the right thing here.
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