Gun makers lose challenge to New York law permitting lawsuits against business

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

Spencer Platt | Getty Photos

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

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

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

The Nationwide Taking pictures Sports Basis, a trade group for the firearms industry, did not immediately reply 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 which have largely shielded the business from lawsuits related to gun violence.

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

The gun business group argued the regulation wrongly imposes legal responsibility on firms operating anyplace in the nation that make, promote or market guns or ammunition which can be misused by criminals in New York.