Gun makers lose challenge to New York regulation permitting lawsuits in opposition to trade

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

Spencer Platt | Getty Photographs

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

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

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

The Nationwide Capturing Sports activities Foundation, a commerce group for the firearms industry, didn't instantly respond to a request for remark.

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

The law allows firearm sellers, producers and distributors to be sued by the state, cities or people for making a "public nuisance" that endangers the public's safety and well being.

The gun business group argued the law wrongly imposes legal responsibility on companies working anyplace in the nation that make, sell or market weapons or ammunition which are misused by criminals in New York.