Gun makers lose problem to New York law permitting lawsuits against industry

Weapons confiscated at New York City public faculties are displayed at a information conference with Mayor Eric Adams at police headquarters to talk about weapons in public faculties in New York Metropolis on Could 25, 2022 in New York Metropolis.

Spencer Platt | Getty Photos

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

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

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

The National Taking pictures Sports Basis, a trade group for the firearms industry, didn't instantly respond to a request for remark.

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

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

The gun trade group argued the law wrongly imposes legal responsibility on companies working wherever in the country that make, sell or market guns or ammunition which are misused by criminals in New York.