VICTORY FOR GUN SAFETY: Second Circuit Upholds New York’s Historic Gun Industry Accountability Law, Everytown Law Responds

NEW YORK – Today, in a first-of-its-kind appellate ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld New York’s gun industry accountability law in National Shooting Sports Foundation v. James. The law prohibits any gun company doing business in New York from knowingly engaging in unreasonable conduct that endangers the public. This decision could serve as a bellwether for other challenges to similar laws across the country.

As the Second Circuit explained, the gun industry plaintiffs failed to present any evidence that the law imposed an “undue burden” on firearms commerce in the United States, and federal law makes clear that States may pass laws that allow lawsuits against gun companies that knowingly violate state laws applicable to the sale and marketing of firearms.

“New York’s landmark gun industry accountability law has created a new pathway for victims and their families to hold bad actors in the gun industry accountable for their role in fueling the epidemic of gun violence that is ravaging communities across the Empire State,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law. “We celebrate today’s Second Circuit ruling – no one is above the law.”

Passed in 2021, the historic law established a path to accountability for the gun industry, creating a requirement for gun companies that sell guns into New York to put safeguards into place to address straw purchasing, gun trafficking and theft. New York’s law ensures that members of the gun industry who fail to take these basic steps would be subject to lawsuits if individuals are harmed as a result. 

Instead of taking steps to implement these basic safety measures, major players in the gun industry, such as Smith & Wesson, Glock and Ruger, joined with the gun industry trade association  – the National Shooting Sports Foundation – to file suit to block the measure. The federal district court in Albany rejected each of the industry’s arguments and upheld the law. Today, the Second Circuit rejected the industry’s appeal, allowing the groundbreaking law to stand. The gun industry plaintiffs claimed that the law would put them out of business. Over three years later, there is no evidence that this exaggerated concern has come to pass. 

Two decades ago, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (“PLCAA”), which gave the gun industry broad special protection from most lawsuits brought by victims of gun violence. However, as the Supreme Court recognized last June, one of PLCAA’s exceptions allows cases to go forward when they are based on knowing violations of state or federal laws pertaining to firearms. As the Second Circuit recognized, New York’s industry accountability law is one such statute. Numerous important lawsuits have already been brought under New York’s law, including claims on behalf of the survivors of the Buffalo mass shooting and a lawsuit by the New York attorney general against ghost gun sellers. 

The amicus brief filed in favor of the law by Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady, Giffords Law Center, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, the Rohan Levy Foundation, and two leading New York violence intervention advocates can be found here. Read more about NSSF v. James here.