Federal judge blocks New Jersey law that allows state to sue gun industry
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a New Jersey law that allows the state Attorney General to sue the gun industry if it endangers public safety through its sales or marketing practices.
U.S. District Judge Zahid Nisar Quraishi, an appointee of President Joe Biden, issued the preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law. In his 20-page opinion, Quraishi, sitting in Trenton, said the New Jersey law appeared to be at odds with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005, a federal law that shields the gun industry from lawsuits when their products are used during the commission of a crime.
The order comes one day after another federal judge blocked a separate New Jersey law that addressed restrictions on concealed carry in New Jersey.
The law blocked Tuesday was the centerpiece of Gov. Phil Murphy’s third package of gun control laws. The law, which Murphy signed in July, allowed the state Attorney General to sue members of the gun industry over “public nuisance” violations for the “sale, manufacturing, distribution,importing, or marketing of a gun-related product.”
Attorney General Matt Platkin established an office over the summer aimed at carrying out legal action against the industry.
Other blue states like Delaware and California have enacted similar measures which aim to open the gun industry to legal action. Gun rights groups said they hope Tuesday's order sends a message to other states considering similar measures.
“We think this is important because other states are currently considering public nuisance statues modeled on what New Jersey, New York, Delaware and California have done,” Lawrence Keane, a senior vice president for government and public affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a plaintiff in the case, said in an interview. “... We will be filing a lawsuit in the coming months in California to challenge the California statute. … Today’s decision will be impactful in giving other state legislatures pause before they enact an unconstitutional law.”
A federal judge last year tossed out a lawsuit from the gun industry challenging a similar New York law.
A spokesperson for Murphy said the governor was “disappointed” by Tuesday's order, but is “confident that this decision will be swiftly reversed on appeal.”
In a strongly-worded statement, Platkin called the decision “unprecedented.”
“The district court’s decision enjoining New Jersey’s public nuisance law is unprecedented and unsupportable,” Platkin said. “The New Jersey Legislature acted lawfully when it adopted public nuisance legislation to hold the gun industry accountable, and nothing in federal law allows firearms manufacturers to violate our state statutes with impunity. Another district court already rejected the exact same arguments put forth by the gun industry last year, and we look forward to swiftly appealing this misguided, outlier decision. We will always put public safety ahead of the profits of the gun industry.”
The measure passed the state Legislature along party lines, with Republicans unanimously opposing the measure.
“It's no surprise that the unconstitutional laws passed by Trenton Democrats to attack the rights of law-abiding firearm owners and businesses are falling like dominos in federal court,” state Sen. Michael Testa (R-Cumberland) said in a statement. “While Governor Murphy says the bill of rights is above his paygrade, thankfully we still have federal judges who understand what it means.”
