Gun makers lose challenge to New York law allowing lawsuits in opposition to industry

Guns confiscated at New York City public schools are displayed at a news conference with Mayor Eric Adams at police headquarters to talk about weapons in public schools in New York Metropolis on Might 25, 2022 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Photos

A federal decide on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit by a gaggle of gun manufacturers, distributors and retailers challenging the constitutionality of a New York regulation that enables the state and other people affected by gun violence to sue the trade.

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

The ruling came a day after a gunman killed 19 kids and two adults at a Texas elementary faculty, the latest in a spate of mass shootings, prompting renewed calls by Democrats for more durable gun laws.

The Nationwide Taking pictures Sports activities Basis, a trade group for the firearms trade, did not immediately respond to a request for remark.

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

The law allows firearm sellers, producers and distributors to be sued by the state, cities or individuals for making a "public nuisance" that endangers the public's security and well being.

The gun business group argued the regulation wrongly imposes liability on corporations working wherever within the country that make, sell or market guns or ammunition which are misused by criminals in New York.