Pirate's Cove

It’s too bad the judge didn’t ask the simple question “If guns are so bad, why are employees of the state of New Jersey not disarming, especially those who have fully automatic guns?”

Court blocks New Jersey law that allows state to sue gun industry

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a New Jersey law authorizing the state’s attorney general to sue gun manufacturers and sellers for endangering public safety, finding it ran afoul of a federal law protecting the gun industry from such claims.

The preliminary order by U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi in Trenton, New Jersey, means the law cannot be enforced while the judge considers a legal challenge by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a gun industry group. It comes a day after a different judge struck down parts of a separate gun control measure in the state.

“NSSF wholeheartedly welcomes this decision,” said Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the group.

A spokesperson for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said the governor was disappointed and confident the order would be reversed on appeal.

Probably not. Would the State sue knife manufacturers for stabbings? How about bat manufacturers if someone was beaten with a bat? Sue Ford because a drunk driver killed someone? Manufacturers aren’t responsible when someone uses a product illegally. How about suing makers of unhealthy foods for heart attacks and other medical issues?

The now-blocked law, passed last June in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights, allows the state attorney general to bring lawsuits accusing gun manufactures and sellers of creating a “public nuisance” that endangers health and safety – for example, through dangerous marketing or failing to prevent illegal trafficking.

Quraishi found that it was in “direct conflict” with the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 (PLCAA), which shields gun makers and sellers from being sued over crimes committed with guns they legally sold.

The law was passed simply to sue to cause gun makers and sellers to no longer due business in the state of NJ, meaning that law abiding citizens would have no lawful method of acquiring firearms for protect, hunting, or sporting, while criminals would feel free to arm up.