Gun makers lose challenge to New York regulation permitting lawsuits towards business

Weapons confiscated at New York Metropolis public schools are displayed at a information convention with Mayor Eric Adams at police headquarters to talk about guns in public colleges in New York City on Could 25, 2022 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Photographs

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

U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino in Albany rejected a request by the National Shooting Sports activities Foundation and gun producers, together with 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 most recent in a spate of mass shootings, prompting renewed calls by Democrats for more durable gun regulations.

The Nationwide Taking pictures Sports Foundation, a trade group for the firearms trade, did not immediately respond to a request for remark.

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

The legislation allows firearm sellers, manufacturers and distributors to be sued by the state, cities or people for creating a "public nuisance" that endangers the general public's security and well being.

The gun trade group argued the law wrongly imposes liability on corporations operating anywhere within the nation that make, promote or market guns or ammunition which are misused by criminals in New York.