Gun makers lose problem to New York law permitting lawsuits towards business

Weapons confiscated at New York Metropolis public faculties are displayed at a news conference with Mayor Eric Adams at police headquarters to discuss guns in public colleges in New York Metropolis on Might 25, 2022 in New York Metropolis.

Spencer Platt | Getty Photos

A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit by a bunch of gun manufacturers, distributors and retailers challenging the constitutionality of a New York regulation that allows the state and other people affected by gun violence to sue the business.

U.S. District Choose Mae D'Agostino in Albany rejected a request by the National Capturing Sports Foundation and gun producers, including Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co, to enjoin enforcement of the statute.

The ruling got here a day after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at a Texas elementary college, the newest in a spate of mass shootings, prompting renewed calls by Democrats for more durable gun laws.

The Nationwide Shooting Sports activities Basis, a trade group for the firearms industry, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Democratic former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo final July signed into legislation a measure that seeks to overcome legal hurdles that have largely shielded the industry from lawsuits related to gun violence.

The law allows firearm sellers, producers and distributors to be sued by the state, cities or people for creating a "public nuisance" that endangers the public's safety and health.

The gun trade group argued the law wrongly imposes liability on corporations working anywhere in the country that make, promote or market weapons or ammunition that are misused by criminals in New York.