Nuisance Cuomo Loves Specious Lawsuits; NSSF Says “Let’s Play”
Years ago, they promised to kill the Second Amendment with “a thousand cuts,” meaning specious lawsuits.
Back in the mid-1990s through the early 2000s, the anti-gunners of America got what passes–for them–as a bright idea. “I know,” they said, “let’s just get someone with deep pockets to sue gun manufacturers because criminals sometimes use their guns to commit crimes.” Naturally, everyone in America who was not already slavishly devoted to the idea of destroying the Second Amendment saw the idiocy inherent in that. Nobody sues Coors when a drunk runs a stop sign; nobody sues Toyota when its driver rear-ends someone. And, naturally, the anti-gunners went with it anyway.
They sued dozens of manufacturers dozens of times, and they lost each and every suit. They knew that they probably would, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to bankrupt these manufacturers–none of which are on the Fortune 500, mind you–through the cost of litigation. Eventually, Congress stepped in and passed a law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
And because Cuomo never met a bad idea he didn’t like, now he’s trying it again.
Gov. Cuomo signed the law after repeating the same debunked talking points churned out by President Joe Biden. Gov. Cuomo claimed the firearm industry is the only industry immune to lawsuits. That myth was so patently untrue that even The Washington Post, Fact Check.org. and Politifact called them “False” in 2015 when failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attempted to pass along the debunked information.
Gov. Cuomo knows this history and the record of courts dismissing these lawsuits before PLCAA was passed with a broad bipartisan consensus in 2005. Gov. Cuomo, when serving as President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, got involved when he organized dozens of local housing authorities to bring their own lawsuits against gunmakers and threatened the industry with “death by a thousand cuts.”
This was his admission these lawsuits lacked legal foundation and amounted to harassment through litigation.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation will challenge to overturn the law signed by New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would allow civil lawsuits by municipalities against the firearm industry for the criminal actions by non-associated third parties. The law is in contravention to federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), and the legal foundations of tort law.
“This law is unconstitutional, plain and simple. It is abhorrent that Governor Cuomo is rehashing a decades-old failed playbook that was rejected by courts in the 1990’s and early 2000’s,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Governor Cuomo is, again, blameshifting for his administration’s failures to prevent crime by pointing fingers at firearm manufacturers that have been working with federal, state and local authorities for real solutions. This law is based on the same legal understanding that would allow victims of drunk drivers to sue Ford and Budweiser for the criminal actions of an individual. This law is not legal accountability. It is political posturing.”
The PLCAA does NOT protect manufacturers from suits related to actual defects.
One of the biggest lies that the anti-gun media loves to spread is that the PLCAA exempts manufacturers from being held responsible for faulty products. That is not at all true. When Remington’s Model 700 was shown to have a defect that could result in accidental discharge, a court did indeed hold them responsible.
Legal Professor Victor Schwartz, who literally wrote the textbook on tort law, former law professor and law school dean and the current co-chairman of the Public Policy Group of the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, recently authored an op-ed setting the record straight on PLCAA. He wrote, “The PLCAA remains a commonsense law that protects against unsound attempts to change radically a fundamental liability law principle.”
Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, wrote in The Hill of the PLCAA, “The bill saved the industry some litigation costs, but the industry would have prevailed in such actions anyway if they were tried. Product liability and tort actions against manufacturers have uniformly and correctly been rejected by the courts.”
To learn more of the history of PLCAA, what the law does and doesn’t do and other industries with similar protections, read NSSF’s Primer on Repealing PLCAA.
Here he goes again. NY Gov. Cuomo thinks that by sueing gun companies that crime will go down? That’s the stupidest thing I have heard of..
Well then, the gun companies and ammo companies should stop selling any guns and ammo to all New York police department. See how Cuomo would like that.
Are they going to sue knife companies, baseballl bat companies when their products are used in a crime? What about automobiles? Plenty of people are hit walking across the street and 50,000 a year are killed by automobiles. Where does it stop? Oh, and all those illegal drugs new Yorkers love, well they kill between 75,000 to 100,000 a year. Don’t hear Cuomo going after drug dealers.
If they really want to reduce crime in NYC, perhaps the politicians should stop listening to a bunch of loud mouth, trouble maker criminals and rioters and instead of defunding-abolishing the police, put more police out on the streets and arrest these rioters, criminals and arsonist and put them in jail with long sentences. Then with them off the streets, crime will go down. No wonder people are fleeing NYC and moving to Georgia and Florida, let’s hope this time they vote for Republican and not demon crap.
Cuomo thinks he is a bad ass hamster, when in reality he’s nothing more than a punk ass bitch!
I think Cuomo should be held accountable like Newsome in California is with a recall. Unfortunately too may liberals live in NY To make this happen. They (liberals) would rather lose (or a friend’s) a loved one than impeach their beloved governor.
I agree Como needs to held accountable but not with your other statement on how NY’ers view him. No that is not how New Yorker’s view it. Most would love a recall but since there are too many “undocumented” living in NY more so then CA they fear it would be a waste of resources to try in case it was challenged. Problem has been the money and clout Como has access to where Newsome in CA doesn’t. NY is the “hub” for Democrat Party. Como is not the “darling” of NY but the backing he has and the cheating each election that goes on makes him untouchable for now. Remember he is using Smoke and Mirrors to cover up his crimes so gun laws is just one tactic he is using to get the rest of the country off his back.
Sleepy’s sending gun sales through the roof. He has become the best salesman of all time. Smith and Wesson broke the BILLION DOLLAR mark, and all because of Sleepy’s non stop attacks on LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. Yes gun sales are through the roof because LAW ABIDING CITIZENS are arming themselves at record rates, to protect themselves from Sleepy, and the Liberal TARDS letting BLM, ANTIFA, and just POS criminals run the streets uninhabited. COUMO is just trying to make people look somewhere else, instead of the fact that he’s a MASS MURDERER. He makes these street criminals look petty.
A nuisance lawsuit by a nuisance politician! Can’t make this sh*t up. Anything to divert attention away from his crimes!
Include every mayor and governor in any lawsuits brought against police or any part of state or municipal government. And hold all auto manufacturers including those from overseas criminally liable for bank robberies in which an automobile is employed.
Cuomo is a scumbag that needs to be stopped , He must think we are all fools, well at least conservatives aren’t fools. The rest of you lefty idiots keep electing this Arrogant piece of garbage that has made decisions that killed many people and are continuing to kill innocent citizens of New York. This predator sexually harassed more than 10 women with his inappropriate comments, questions and actually inappropriately touched numerous women, the people protecting this criminal need to be charged in compliance with this lowlife. Yes Cuomo needs to go to jail..
The Supreme Court and other lower courts have thrown out many a lawsuit because of a lack of standing. If there was ever a lack of standing this could be it. The first company that faces a lawsuit because of Andy should counter sue him for being a complete utter mentally ill incompetent moron. The more they try to take away our rights the more people will push back against them. This is the United States of America and our Constitution was written with many provisions to stop people like Andy, Kamala, Diane, Chuck and Joe.
another attempt b y the new york state cretin to distract from his horrendous covid 19 nursing home scandel. Hes the real murderer here, wake the hell up New Yorkers, vote this lyin fool outta office and prosecute him.
Gun manufacturers are the only ones who can’t be sued because their products are used to kill someone??? Then why can’t the rental company and the manufacturer of the truck be sued for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building? Why can’t the airlines and the aircraft manufacturers be sued for the September 11 bombings? The list is much longer.
I say it’s seriously about time that we hold ATF accountable for all the illegal firearms on the streets in the hands of career criminals and felons! Gun manufacturers aren’t putting the guns in their hand!!! If ATF did their job they’d be investigating how these thugs are getting firearms and who they are getting them from! ATF only seems interested in taking guns from legitimate gun owners! Let them hit the streets of the ghetto and go after the illegal out of the trunk gun sales! Obviously they don’t have the balls to do it though! Can you sue Apple when a person on their iPhone is driving and kills someone? Hell no! Why not though in perspective?
Cuomo is responsible for more deaths by far in the last two year than deaths caused by guns in his state. He is nothing more than a loud mouth tool!
When is New Yorkians gonna sue Cuomo for the failed state they live in?
this idiot needs to be put away never to return