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FIRST ON FOX: Two dozen Republican state attorneys general are backing gun manufacturers in legal battles in New York, including in one case directly challenging New York Attorney General Letitia James’ role in attempting to expand liability against the manufacturers.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led the states in filing amicus briefs Monday in lawsuits brought by Buffalo and Rochester, as well as one brought against James’ office, all of which center on New York’s effort to hold gun makers and sellers accountable for gun violence under a state public nuisance law. The AGs argued New York was infringing on a federal law that protects the firearms industry from liability and that the cases carry national implications.
“These cases go far beyond New York,” Knudsen told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. “This is not just a New York thing by any stretch of the imagination. … It affects all of us.” Knudsen said blue states and liberal gun control advocates have repeatedly attempted to “get around” federal law and “go after and bankrupt firearms companies.”
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The lawsuits focus on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which is designed to shield gun makers and sellers from liability when their products are used in crimes. The Republican attorneys general argued in one of the amicus briefs that New York was attempting to sidestep that law with a “vague nuisance statute that specifically targets the firearms industry.”
Knudsen sharply criticized James, who is named in one of the cases, accusing her of pushing an activist agenda while disregarding the PLCAA.
“This is an attorney general who should know better,” Knudsen said. “We should be able to read case law and follow it, but she doesn’t seem to want to do that. Instead, she wants to be an activist. She wants to blame what I would say is probably the most legally regulated industry in America for the poor policies that she’s got going on in her own state.”
An amicus brief was filed with the Supreme Court in the case naming James, National Shooting Sports Foundation v. James, in which the attorneys general urged the high court to step in, warning that New York’s law could allow states across the country to circumvent the PLCAA by building liabilities for gun makers into state laws.
James has previously defended New York’s 2021 law as a public safety measure and hailed lower court rulings in the case as victories for “the rule of law.”
Knudsen emphasized the stakes of the case for Second Amendment advocates.
“We don’t have a Second Amendment in this country if we don’t have firearms manufacturers,” he said. “This is trying to kill the firearms manufacturing industry in this country one lawsuit at a time.”
A separate amicus brief was filed in district court opposing lawsuits brought by the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, which argued gun manufacturers failed to install sufficient guardrails to prevent gun crimes and that the cities were entitled to damages for those crimes.
The attorneys general countered that the gun industry is already heavily regulated and should not be held responsible for crimes in the cities that were carried out with guns that were made and sold legally.
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The Montana attorney general also warned that New York’s law reaches beyond the state’s borders and could allow New York to impose liability on gun manufacturers who are based out of state, raising constitutional concerns about interstate commerce.
The Supreme Court could decide to intervene and address the New York law, in part because lower courts have been divided over how to interpret exceptions built into the PLCAA. Knudsen said he expects the justices to weigh in after they already addressed the law in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Mexico, a landmark case decided in favor of gun manufacturers last year.
In that case, Mexico had argued that under the PLCAA, several major gun companies could be held responsible for illegal firearms trafficking and the gun violence that resulted from it. The justices found 9-0 that Mexico did not present enough evidence to make that claim. But the high court’s ruling did not address state laws that serve to counter the PLCAA, such as the one in New York.
The Supreme Court brief focused on James was joined by 24 states: Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The district court brief was joined by 23 states: Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
They mark the latest in a string of gun-related court interventions from Knudsen, who previously led red states in opposing Hawaii’s carry restrictions and a California magazine ban.
Fox News Digital reached out to Letitia James’ office for comment, as well as an attorney in the Buffalo and Rochester case.
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