The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 dismissed a firearms industry group’s challenge to a New York law that allows lawsuits against industry participants for alleged harms caused by their products.
The high court’s new decision took the form of an unsigned order dismissing an industry petition. No justices dissented. The court did not explain its decision.
The petition was filed by the lead petitioner, National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc., along with gun makers such as Beretta U.S.A. Corp., Glock Inc., Sig Sauer, and Smith & Wesson Inc.
The petitioners filed a legal challenge to Section 898 of the New York General Business Law, which in 2021 created a cause of action allowing the state and others to sue gun manufacturers, sellers, and distributors for harms caused by the “unlawful” marketing, sale, or misuse of firearms. This is what lawyers call a facial challenge, meaning the petitioners were arguing that the state law was invalid as written, as opposed to an as-applied challenge, which argues a law is invalid in specific situations….