The Case That Could Topple the Gun Industry's Special Legal Protections

[AndyS]

https://www.thetrace.org/2020/10/gunmakers-wrongful-death-lawsuits-sue-springfield-armory/

A Pennsylvania court ruled September 28 that a law that has for decades insulated the gun industry from lawsuits is unconstitutional. The opinion quashes an attempt by the Illinois-based gun manufacturer Springfield Armory to dismiss a suit brought by the family of a Pennsylvania teenager killed with one of its guns.

If the ruling stands, no gun company will be able to use the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA, to dismiss a lawsuit in the state of Pennsylvania. But the implications are potentially far greater. If the decision survives appeal at the state level, it is likely to catch the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling against PLCAA at the federal level would provoke the gun industry’s worst fears, exposing companies to the kinds of product-liability suits that forced sweeping reforms in the pharmaceutical, tobacco, and automotive industries.

“This decision puts this case on the national radar in a way it would never have been otherwise,” said Timothy Lytton, a legal scholar at Georgia State University who edited a book on the history of gun industry litigation. There have traditionally been two strategies for getting past PLCAA’s immunity, he said, and this case represents the most ambitious: “Strategy One is trying to penetrate the immunity wall by finding cracks” via the law’s narrow exceptions. “Strategy Two is to knock down the wall with a wrecking ball… If this Pennsylvania case succeeds, it’s going to knock the whole wall down.”

(emphasis mine)

The case in point is here: https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/03/20/parents-of-teen-shot-and-killed-by-friend-file-wrongful-death-lawsuit/It involves the lack of safety devices or inadequate safety devices on guns. A young man was killed when his friend picked up a gun that had no magazine loaded into it and pulled the trigger only to find there was a round in the chamber, a round that killed his friend.

The PLCAA allows gun makers to be sued if they knowingly make a defective product BUT it allows the gun manufacturers to define a defect. Just call it a design feature and voila, no defect.

Oh, please, if there is a God of some kind please let this hit the SCOTUS and have them rule in favor of the Pennsylvania court.

[palinny]

1. Mexico just sued some U.S. gun manufacturers

Thanks to Mexico, who is sick and tired of all our guns fueling their drug cartels, here is another possible line of attack, but it faces some steep hills:

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-sues-several-weapons-manufacturers-us-court-2021-08-04/

[crickets]

2. Fingers crossed. K&R for visibility.

eta - click through to read the entire article. Worth the read!

[CrispyQ]

3. Kick for visibility.

Please consider adding a link to Part 2.

[madville]

4. That decision was vacated by the State Superior Court in December of last year

They have the option to reconsider it but as of right now the manufacturer and dealer are still considered immune from liability under the federal law. Pennsylvania doesn't have a magazine disconnect safety law like a few other states do, so if the gun was legal in Pennsylvania and functioned exactly as designed, I don't see how they can win the case that it was defective in the end.

https://www.nssh.com/2021/02/pennsylvania-superior-court-to-reconsider-whether-federal-law-protecting-gun-manufacturers-from-liability-is-unconstitutional/

Does a state court have the ability to rule that a federal law is unconstitutional anyway and it carry any sort of weight?

[AndyS]

5. Thanks for the clarification. I was unaware of this wrinkle until SL8 posted a reply (#6)

in Part 2 of this thread: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215713419

It is being re-heard this year.

I don't think a State court can made a determination of US Constitutionality but state decisions are appealed to federal courts in such cases and what happens up the appeals chain remains to be seen.

Thanks again for the diligence.