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New York: Cuomo Declares Gun Violence State of Emergency


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New York: Cuomo Declares Gun Violence State of Emergency

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Remember when Gov. Andrew Cuomo told everyone the SAFE Act was going to make New York streets safer?  Well that didn’t work out too well and neither will his latest attempt to deflect attention from years of failed criminal justice policies.  Today, the Governor announced he is declaring a gun violence state of emergency.  How can there be a gun violence state of emergency in New York when the state has, arguably, the harshest gun laws in the country?

The answer is simple:  Gov. Cuomo and the Democrat controlled Legislature have not only failed to fix the problem, they have made it worse!  Their catch-and-release “bail reform” and defunding of law enforcement has resulted in New York crime hitting historic levels, and somehow he can blamewith a straight facegun manufacturers.  The Governor has spent his entire tenure coddling criminals and harassing law-abiding New York gun owners.  It should come as no surprise that crime has spiraled out of control.

Gov. Cuomo indicated he is signing S.7196, by Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D).  That bill would make it easier to sue gun manufacturers, despite federal protections adopted years ago under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.  Instead of taking responsibility for failed legislation coming out of Albany, the scapegoating continues.

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Wednesday, July 7, 2021

NSSF to Challenge New York Public Nuisance Lawsuit Law

NEWTOWN, Conn. – The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®) will challenge to overturn the law signed by New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would allow civil lawsuits by municipalities against the firearm industry for the criminal actions by non-associated third parties.

The law is in contravention to federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), and the legal foundations of tort law.

“This law is unconstitutional, plain and simple. It is abhorrent that Governor Cuomo is rehashing a decades-old failed playbook that was rejected by courts in the 1990’s and early 2000’s,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Governor Cuomo is, again, blameshifting for his administration’s failures to prevent crime by pointing fingers at firearm manufacturers that have been working with federal, state and local authorities for real solutions.® This law is based on the same legal understanding that would allow victims of drunk drivers to sue Ford and Budweiser for the criminal actions of an individual. This law is not legal accountability. It is political posturing.”

Gov. Cuomo signed the law after repeating the same debunked talking points churned out by President Joe Biden. Gov. Cuomo claimed the firearm industry is the only industry immune to lawsuits. That worn-out myth was discredited by The Washington Post and Fact Check.org. Politifact called them “False” in 2015 when failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attempted to pass along the debunked information.

Gov. Cuomo knows this history and the record of courts dismissing these lawsuits before PLCAA was passed with a broad bipartisan consensus in 2005. Gov. Cuomo, when serving as President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, got involved when he organized dozens of local housing authorities to bring their own lawsuits against gunmakers and threatened the industry with “death by a thousand cuts.”

This was his admission these lawsuits lacked legal foundation and amounted to harassment through litigation.

Legal Professor Victor Schwartz, who literally wrote the textbook on tort law, former law professor and law school dean and the current co-chairman of the Public Policy Group of the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, recently authored an op-ed setting the record straight on PLCAA. He wrote, “The PLCAA remains a commonsense law that protects against unsound attempts to change radically a fundamental liability law principle.”

Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, wrote in The Hill of the PLCAA, “The bill saved the industry some litigation costs, but the industry would have prevailed in such actions anyway if they were tried. Product liability and tort actions against manufacturers have uniformly and correctly been rejected by the courts.”

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