WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF, the firearms industry trade association, has filed a lawsuit seeking to block Maryland’s Gun Industry Accountability Act, or House Bill 947, that attempts to circumvent the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
The NSSF suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, is designed to protect the PLCAA, a law that prohibits frivolous lawsuits against members of the firearm industry for the criminal misuse of lawfully sold legal firearms by remote third parties. NSSF also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin enforcement of the law by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
NSSF said in the suit that Maryland’s Gun Industry Accountability Act is part of a coordinated effort by antigun state legislatures, their attorneys general, and gun-control groups to engage in lawfare against the firearms industry as an “end run” around the bipartisan PLCAA, which Congress passed in 2005.
In enacting the PLCAA, Congress explained it was because antigun politicians were using the courts to “attempt to circumvent the Legislative branch of government” and “expand civil liability in a manner never contemplated by the framers of the Constitution.” Similarly, NSSF said, antigun states began a new lawfare tactic by enacting laws codifying vague “reasonableness” standards to hold law-abiding firearms industry members liable for harms caused by criminals who misuse their lawfully sold legal products.
Recognizing AG Brown will wield House Bill 947 to sue other industry members for their lawful commerce under the law’s unconstitutionally vague “reasonableness” standard for creating or contributing to a “public nuisance,” an NSSF statement read.
Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, said the industry group filed this lawsuit on behalf of its more than 10,000 members. Keane also noted that a variety of NSSF members — including manufacturers, distributors and retailers — filed declarations in support of NSSF’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The gun businesses believe they might face liability under House Bill 947’s vague and subjective requirement to “establish and implement reasonable controls” to prevent criminals from misusing their products.
Keane said, “Attorney General Brown is targeting perfectly legal commerce. Maryland’s law that seeks to impose a gun control agenda through litigation not only runs afoul of the PLCAA, but it also violates the First Amendment by limiting protected commercial free speech, the Commerce Clause and the Second Amendment.”
